Prostate Cryotherapy

Optoacoustics monitoring of therapeutic procedures

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive treatment procedure performed for cancer control. It is guided by a transrectal ultrasound by a physician who precisely positions transperinial cryoprobes near the lesion. The treatment involves multiple cycles of quick freezing at the cryoprobe tips followed by longer thawing. A warming catheter prevents urethra from damage. Closest to the probe, rapid cooling results in intracellular ice formation, damaging cells and resulting in immediate cell death. Cryoablation also damages blood vessels resulting in platelet deactivation, thrombosis and ultimately ischemia after reperfusion.

Our proposal : Hybrid Optoacoustic – Ultrasound monitoring probe

Temperature mapping near rectal wall allows for real time temperature monitoring for ensuring safety and efficacy during the procedure.
10 X 30 mm field view
Resolution of 0.5 mm
Accuracy ±1 °C
Optoacoustic images are co-registered with transrectal ultrasound with up to frame/s rate
Non invasive
Non ionizing radiation
System upgrade with OAT unit appx. $140k

Procedure for Temperature monitoring

  1. Record optoacoustic images from the vascularized tissue regions of interest at a normal local physiological temperature e.g. 37°C
  2. Normalize obtained optoacoustic response by intensity
  3. Convert it to the local temperature via the universal blood calibration curve measured for a particular biological population