Sensor integrated into RFA needle offers surgical accuracy

The sensors, integrated onto a 1.5mm diameter needle tip, are said to have proven their efficacy during clinical tests and expect to provide a new opportunity for safer and more effective medical practices.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive surgery technique for removing tumours and treating cardiovascular disease. During a procedure, an unintended audible ‘steam pop’ can occur due to the increased internal steam pressure in the area being ablated. According to the team at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) this phenomenon has been cited as a cause of various negative thermal and mechanical effects on neighbouring tissue.

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KAIST’s Professor Inkyu Park said that his team’s integrated sensors reliably detected the occurrence of steam pop. The sensors also monitor rapidly spreading hot steam in tissue. It is expected that the diverse properties of tissue undergoing RFA could be checked by utilising the physical sensors integrated on the needle.