ClinicIMPPACT - Clinical Intervention Modelling, Planning and Proof for Ablation Cancer Treatment

The ClinicIMPPACT proposal builds upon the successful completion of the IMPPACT project (Grant No. 223877, completed in February 2012) that resulted in the creation of a physiological radio-frequency ablation (RFA) model for liver cancer treatment. This preliminary RFA model has been tested in porcine animal studies with extensive histological workup and in a clinical study using patient data for retrospective simulations. The main objectives of this proposal are: (i) to bring the existing IMPPACT RFA model for liver cancer treatment into clinical practice; (ii) to verify and refine the model in a small clinical study; (iii) to develop the model into a real-time patient-specific RFA planning and support system for Interventional Radiologists (IR) under special consideration of their clinical workflow needs; (iv) to establish a corresponding training procedure for IRs; (v) to evaluate the practicality and benefit of the model for routine clinical purposes by analyzing user surveys and running expert forums. The proposed RFA planning and support tool is therefore unique as it offers a validated software environment, where IRs can interact during the RFA treatment with the virtual tumour ablation through the extensive use of simulation and visualisation technology.