# Deformation Corrected Image Guided Laparoscopic Liver Surgery

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $37,182

## Abstract

Summary
Hepatic tumors represent a major health care problem in the U.S. and worldwide. In 2020, there is an estimated
42,810 new cases of primary liver cancer in U.S. with over 30,160 related deaths (worldwide, this is 20 fold
greater). In addition, primary liver cancer has tripled in the U.S. since 1980 and has risen 3% each year from
2006-2015. Much of this rise has been attributed to obesity, diabetes, and fatty liver disease (FLD), which are
rapidly replacing viral- and alcohol-related liver disease as a major factor of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Due to limited surgical candidacy, and lack of transplant availability, locoregional therapies for the management
of disease and as a bridge-to-transplant are a highly engaged area of investigation. One locoregional therapy
in particular, thermal ablation, has a long history in local liver cancer control in both percutaneous procedures
and within surgery. Among thermal therapies for liver, microwave ablation (MWA) is rapidly becoming a favored
treatment. MWA has the advantage of creating a large spatial extent of power deposition, can penetrate through
charred tissues, and has the capacity to ablate up to and around large vessels. However, common to
locoregional therapies, ablation volumes can be difficult to predict for any given patient, i.e. commercial guidance
information is quite generic, and recurrence and complications are still problems. The basic scientific premise
underpinning this application is that improving microwave ablation (MWA) therapy is intrinsically dependent on
the precise localization and determination of dose extent in relation to spatially-encoded disease and
anatomic information. The overall hypothesis that the candidate will pursue is that quantitative magnetic
resonance (MR) imaging can be used to create both anatomically and materially subject-specific computational
models such that accurate microwave probe ablation thermal dosing can be forecast to improve ablation
outcomes. The primary aim will be to create a multi-physics modeling capability to appropriately plan and
forecast a patient-specific thermal ablative dose. In this aim, we propose three tasks to be accomplished: (1)
develop and achieve software goals for microwave ablation modeling and planning, (2) using fat quantification
data from the literature to estimate the influence that FLD could have on dose prediction, and (3) begin a
feasibility study to demonstrate improved thermal dose prediction as driven by pre-procedural imaging (fat
quantification, and perfusion imaging). If fully realized, this work could profoundly shape the planning, delivery,
and control of microwave ablative therapy. The image-data-driven approach would allow for pre-procedural
patient-specific ablation plans, intra-procedurally enable enhanced localization, and the prediction/adjustment of
MWA thermal dose extent.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10300395
- **Project number:** 3R01EB027498-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** WILLIAM Robert JARNAGIN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $37,182
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-16 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10300395

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10300395, Deformation Corrected Image Guided Laparoscopic Liver Surgery (3R01EB027498-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-29 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10300395. Licensed CC0.

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