Development of robust/predictive control strategies for image-guided ablative treatments using a minimally invasive ultrasound applicator

Purpose: One important challenge in image-guided ablative therapies is the effect of heat diffusion which can cause damage to surrounding organs and limit the ability to achieve a conformal pattern of thermal damage. Furthermore, tissue properties such as perfusion and energy absorption can be dynamic and difficult to measure. This paper attempts to address these problems by proposing new control methods.

Materials and methods: A novel predictive approach was developed to compensate for the effect of heat diffusion using a minimally invasive rotating ultrasound heating applicator for ablative therapy. This method can be merged into any closed-loop control strategy. A binary controller, a previously developed adaptive proportional-integral controller, and a model reference adaptive controller were employed and compared, all with the predictive element incorporated. The reason for choosing these controllers was that none of them needed a model of the tissue or exact values of their parameters.

Results: The effectiveness of these controllers was demonstrated through both simulation and experimental studies. The results were consistent and demonstrated equivalent performance between controllers.

Conclusions: The dominant influence on radial targeting accuracy was the prediction element described in this paper. A binary controller with a predictive element may provide the best balance of performance and simplicity for this application.