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Abstract
As part of an ongoing project to develop automated tools for cryosurgery planning, the current study focuses on the development of a 3D bubble packing method. A proof-of-concept for the new method is demonstrated on five prostate models, reconstructed from ultrasound images. The new method is a modification of an established method in 2D. Ellipsoidal bubbles are packed in the volume of the prostate in the current study; such bubbles can be viewed as a first-order approximation of a frozen region around a single cryoprobe. When all cryoprobes are inserted to the same depth, optimum planning was found to occur at about 60% of the length of the prostate (measured from its apex), which leads to cooling of approximately 75% of the prostate volume below a specific temperature threshold of − 22°C. Bubble packing has the potential to dramatically reduce the run time for automated planning.
Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)—NIH, grant # R01-EB00356301, 02, 03. We would like to thank Dr Aaron Fenster of the Robarts Imaging Institute, London, Canada, for providing ultrasound images. We would like to thank Dr Ralph Miller of Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for clinical advice.