Solutions to Improve the Outcomes of Thermal Treatments in Oncology: Multipoint Temperature Monitoring

Over the last few decades, minimally invasive treatments have garnered much interest as alternatives to surgical resection. Among others, laser ablation has gained a broad clinical acceptance in the treatment of a certain number of solid tumors (e.g., liver, lung, and prostate). In this context, the knowledge of temperature during the treatment may be useful to better control the amount of damaged tissue and to subsequently improve clinical outcomes. The objective of this paper is to assess the feasibility of two multipoint probes for temperature monitoring during laser ablation. The probes consist of a needle made up of a carbon fiber tube. Each probe embeds an array of seven fiber Bragg grating sensors. Experiments performed in in vivo animal models (pig livers) show that the probe can reach deep-seated organs and offer the possibility to monitor tissue temperature in seven different positions. This information may be crucial to guide clinicians in the optimization of treatment settings and to improve the accuracy of theoretical models, which will pilot future studies to design new heating devices and to develop patient-specific treatments.