IMAGE-GUIDED CRYOABLATION
Frequently Asked Questions about Image-Guided Cryoablation
Q: What is Image-Guided Cryoablation?
A: Image-guided cryotherapy is a minimally invasive, percutaneous treatment for solid tumors of the kidney and metastatic tumors of the liver. Cryotherapy is a well-established technology for the treatment of various benign and malignant conditions. Combining Galil Medical’s patented freezing technology and ultra-thin cryoablation needles with advanced imaging capabilities has created the opportunity to perform truly minimally-invasive tumor destruction.
Q: What does “image-guided” mean?
A: Image-guided refers to the use of radiological imaging techniques (e.g., fluoroscopy, ultrasound, CT and MRI) during a procedure. Intraprocedurally, imaging is used to target and place the cryoablation needles into the tumor, to monitor the double freeze-thaw process, and to control the treatment, as necessary. Imaging is also used before the procedure to plan the treatment and after the procedure to assess the treatment response.
Q: How is image-guided cryoablation done?
A: The term “image-guided cryoablation” can mean any cryoablation that is performed using any type of radiological imaging to guide the placement of the cryoablation needles. It can mean that the cryoablation needles are placed under intraoperative ultrasound guidance during an open surgical procedure, or that the needles are placed into the tumor through the skin (percutaneously) during laparoscopic surgery, using a special laparoscopic ultrasound probe. However, the term is most often used to describe percutaneous cryoablation done without any surgical incisions, using CT or MRI guidance to monitor the entire procedure.
Q: If there are no surgical incisions, is the procedure still performed in the operating room by a surgeon?
A: In the case of image-guided percutaneous cryoablation, the procedure can be performed in the radiology department, and not in the operating room. It is then performed by a physician specializing in interventional radiology.
Q: What is an interventional radiologist, and what are his/her qualifications to treat cancerous tumors?
A: Interventional radiologists are considered minimally invasive treatment specialists. They have pioneered non-surgical treatments of many serious medical conditions, beginning over 40 years ago with the advent of angioplasty to treat blocked coronary arteries. Since that time, interventional radiologists have developed a wealth of minimally invasive procedures, both catheter based and percutaneous, that have expanded the population of patients eligible for treatment, and many conditions that once required surgery can be treated non-surgically by interventional radiologists.
Q: Can all tumors be treated
this way?
A: Percutaneous cryoablation is now being
used effectively to treat prostate cancer,
certain kidney tumors and metastatic liver
tumors. There are also physicians using
cryoablation experimentally to treat primary
liver cancer as well as certain lung and
bone tumors. Currently, traditional surgical
excision of a cancerous tumor is believed
to offer the best chance of cure. Patients
who are healthy enough for surgery and who
have tumors that can be surgically removed
are usually still treated operatively. As
with any innovative treatment, cryoablation
was first used in patients who were not
a good risk for operative treatment. Short
and mid-term results have been promising,
and as long term results become available,
it is entirely possible that more patients
and more conditions will be treated using
image-guided percutaneous cryoablation.
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