ABSTRACT
Tumor ablation is one of the focal therapy options for cancerous lesions in the liver. This minimally invasive procedure relies on placing therapeutic applicators accurately at tumor locations to achieve planned clinical outcomes. This dependency on placement accuracy can limit the widespread adoption and clinical scope of these procedures, resulting in highly physician-dependent procedures that can conventionally lead to undesirable patient outcomes. Three-dimensional (3D) information can improve the accuracy, reproducibility, and overall success of these procedures, but clinical needs exist for improving workflow and reducing physician variability with widely applicable cost-conscious approaches. 3D ultrasound is an imaging modality that can act as an intermediate, even sole, image guidance modality to improve the planning, guidance, and verification of applicator positions intraoperatively. Advanced image processing in the forms of applicator segmentation, image registration, and tumor coverage evaluation can be used to further augment 3D ultrasound to create a complete system capable of supporting new techniques and approaches for providing greater access to quality healthcare around the globe.
