Induction Thermocoagulation: Thermal Response and Lesion Size

A model has been formulated for the thermal and biological response of tissue to the thermocoagulation method of stereotactic surgery. The model has been solved numerically for the temperature distribution in the tissue around an implanted cylindrical thermoseed as a function of time during and after induction heating. The tissue thermal damage has been quantified and lesion size has been predicted as a function of thermoseed operating parameters. The results provide the clinician with an approximate indication of the thermal insult and suggest that the region of coagulative necrosis becomes less sharply defined with increasing thermoseed temperature and heating time.