Background: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is one of the most promising non-surgical treatments for hepatic\r\ntumors. The assessment of the therapeutic efficacy of RFA is usually obtained by visual comparison of pre- and\r\npost-treatment CT images, but no numerical quantification is performed.\r\nMethods: In this work, a novel method aiming at providing a more objective tool for the evaluation of RFA\r\ncoverage is described. Image registration and segmentation techniques were applied to enable the visualization of\r\nthe tumor and the corresponding post-RFA necrosis in the same framework. In addition, a set of numerical indexes\r\ndescribing tumor/necrosis overlap and their mutual position were computed.\r\nResults: After validation of segmentation step, the method was applied on a dataset composed by 10 tumors,\r\nsuspected not to be completed treated. Numerical indexes showed that only two tumors were totally treated and\r\nthe percentage of a residual tumor was in the range of 5.12%-35.92%.\r\nConclusions: This work represents a first attempt to obtain a quantitative tool aimed to assess the accuracy of RFA\r\ntreatment. The possibility to visualize the tumor and the correspondent post-RFA necrosis in the same framework\r\nand the definition of some synthetic numerical indexes could help clinicians in ameliorating RFA treatment.
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