Tissue temperature field dynamics from MRI during radiofrequency ablation

Interventional magnetic resonance imaging provides an image-guided, minimally invasive method for eliminating cancerous tumors. When a small diameter RF probe is inserted into a solid tumor, the RF-generated heat produces a sufficiently high tissue temperature to kill cells. It is essential to obtain reliable temperature distributions every minute from non-invasive MR scans under a variety of conditions with different power inputs and positioning of the RF probe. The results show that the method of obtaining the dynamic temperature fields is feasible. This is expected to allow the clinician to view the thermal changes associated with ablation during a procedure.