Image-guided radiofrequency tumor ablation: Challenges and opportunities - Part II

PERCUTANEOUS image-guided ablation with use of radiofrequency (RF) or other thermal energy sources such as microwave, high-intensity focused ultrasonography (US), cryotherapy, and laser have recently received much attention as minimally invasive strategies for the local treatment of solid malignancies (1-4). In the first part of this review, we provided a brief synopsis of current RF techniques and reviewed the basic principles of RF ablation and challenges facing the successful implementation of this technology (5). In the second part of this review, we will describe some of the many opportunities that RF ablation affords in an overview of potential clinical applications. The organ systems discuss, such as the liver, bone, lung, and kidney, are those currently receiving the greatest amount of attention from interventional radiologists. However, many additional applications are likely to emerge over the course of the next several years.