Multiple cylindrical interstitial laser ablations (CILAs) of porcine pancreas in ex vivo and in vivo models

Abstract

Background

The therapeutic capacity of multiple cylindrical interstitial laser ablations (CILAs) of pancreatic tissue was evaluated with 1064 nm laser light in ex vivo and in vivo porcine pancreatic models.

Methods

A diffusing applicator was sequentially employed to deliver 1064 nm laser light in a cylindrical distribution to ablate a large volume of pancreatic tissue. Ex vivo tissue was tested at various power levels (5, 7, and 10 W) under US imaging. An in vivo porcine model was used to evaluate the clinical feasibility of multiple CILAs on pancreatic tissue at 5 W via laparotomy (N = 3).

Results

Multiple CILAs symmetrically ablated a range of ex vivo tissue volumes (2.4–6.0 cm³) at various power levels. Multiple CILAs warranted a therapeutic capacity of symmetrically ablating in vivo pancreatic tissue. Both ex vivo and in vivo pancreatic tissues after multiple CILAs at 5 W confirmed the absence of or minimal thermal injury to the peripheral tissue and carbonization.

Conclusions

The current findings suggest that the collective thermal effects from multiple CILAs can help widely ablate pancreatic tissue with minimal thermal injury. Further in vivo studies will investigate the safety of the proposed CILA treatment as well as acute/chronic responses of pancreatic tissue for clinical translations.

Keywords:

• Diffusing applicator
• interstitial laser ablation
• coagulation necrosis
• pancreatic cancer
• radial heat conduction

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Seyeon Park for her language editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supporting information

Additional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Korea Medical Device Development Fund grant funded by the Korea government (the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Health & Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) [Project Number: 202016B01] and Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education [No. 2021R1A6A1A03039211]. Kang HW is the founder and CEO of Tecure, Inc.