Design of a compliant endoscopic ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation probe

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer in the United States. Due to its late diagnosis, only 20% of patients diagnosed with the disease are eligible for surgical resection which is considered the preferred method of treatment. Radiofrequency ablation is a common cancer treatment modality for patients ineligible for open surgery. There is a lack of ablation probes which may be used to generate spherical heating zones which closely match the geometry of typical tumors. In particular, there are no endoscopic ablation probes commercially available in the United States. In this paper the design of a compliant endoscopic radiofrequency ablation probe is presented. This probe features an array of compliant tines which deploy through the cancerous tissue to effectively broaden the ablation zone. A thermal ablation model is used to inform the design of the geometry of the probe. In addition, finite element analysis is used to determine the feasibility of the compliant structures. These design tools are used as aids to inform the design and direct modifications toward a feasible probe which generates a spherical ablation zone.