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Abstract

This invention relates to the destruction of pathological volumes or target structures such as cancerous tumors or aberrant functional target tissue volumes by direct thermal destruction. In the case of a tumor, the destruction is implemented in one embodiment of the invention by percutaneous insertion of one or more radiofrequency probes into the tumor and raising the temperature of the tumor volume by connection of these probes to a radiofrequency generator outside of the body so that the isotherm of tissue destruction enshrouds the tumor. The ablation isotherm may be predetermined and graded by proper choice of electrode geometry and radiofrequency (rf) power applied to the electrode with or without temperature monitoring of the ablation process. Preplanning of the rf electrode insertion can be done by imaging of the tumor by various imaging modalities and selecting the appropriate electrode tip size and temperature to satisfactorily destroy the tumor volume. Computation of the correct three-dimensional position of the electrode may be done as part of the method, and the planning and control of the process may be done using graphic displays of the imaging data and the rf ablation parameters. Specific electrode geometries with adjustable tip lengths are included in the invention to optimize the electrodes to the predetermined image tumor size.

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First Claim