Image-guided thermal therapy

Thermal therapy refers to the application of heat to treat disease. This therapeutic approach has been applied for over a century, with initial attempts involving the induction of fever to treat patients with advanced cancers. Since then, investigation into the biological basis for the therapeutic effect of heat, and the development of technology to deliver and monitor thermal therapies has improved the sophistication and accuracy of this treatment modality. The past decade has seen the rapid development of a diverse array of technology for heat generation as well as the introduction of novel noninvasive thermometric techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Today, quantitative knowledge of the temperature distribution within a heated volume, coupled with the ability to control the three-dimensional heating pattern makes thermal therapy a promising technique. These developments are generating a growing interest in the application of high temperatures (>60 ∞ C) capable of tissue thermal coagulation as a strategy for thermal therapy. The rapid and indiscriminate destruction of tissues exposed to these temperatures places high demands on the ability to monitor the deposition of energy and quantify the extent of thermal damage.