Thermal fixation of swine liver tissue after magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation.

The aim of this study was to investigate experimental conditions for efficient and controlled in vivo liver tissue ablation by magnetic resonance (MR)-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in a swine model, with the ultimate goal of improving clinical treatment outcome. Histological changes were examined both acutely (four animals) and 1 wk after treatment (five animals). Effects of acoustic power and multiple sonication cycles were investigated. There was good correlation between target size and observed ablation size by thermal dose calculation, post-procedural MR imaging and histopathology, when temperature at the focal point was kept below 90°C. Structural histopathology investigations revealed tissue thermal fixation in ablated regions. In the presence of cavitation, mechanical tissue destruction occurred, resulting in an ablation larger than the target. Complete extra-corporeal MR-guided HIFU ablation in the liver is feasible using high acoustic power. Nearby large vessels were preserved, which makes MR-guided HIFU promising for the ablation of liver tumors adjacent to large veins.