Imaging Guidelines during Percutaneous Liver Ablation to Optimize Outcomes and Patient Safety.

Image-guided ablation procedures have become a mainstay in cancer therapy. Typically performed from a percutaneous approach, thermal-based ablation procedures rely heavily on imaging guidance both prior to and during the procedure itself. Advances in imaging as they relate to ablation procedures are as important to successful treatments as advancements in the ablation technology itself. Imaging as it relates to procedural planning, targeting and monitoring, and assessment of procedural endpoint is the focus of this article.