Estimation of temperature distribution with the use of a thermo-camera

The determination of three-dimensional (3D) temperature distribution within tissue during thermoablation is necessary to estimate procedure efficiency. The use of a thermo-camera combined with finite element modelling is discussed.

The temperature distributions in a metal phantom and an animal tissue sample were simulated. In the real experiment, temperatures were measured around the heating probe by a thermo-resistor set and the temperature distributions on samples' surface were acquired by a thermo-camera. The temperatures measured in the experiment were compared with the simulated ones. The differences between the measured and simulated temperatures were lower than 1.3°C and 3.0°C for a metal phantom and tissue sample, respectively.

Good agreement was achieved for homogenous material of well-defined parameters. Higher discrepancies for the tissue sample are due to in-homogeneity and to difficulties with describing tissue thermal properties.

The proposed method permits the precise prediction of a 3D temperature distribution in in-vitro studies. Potential application for in-vivo procedures requires further investigations.