Background: The effectiveness of loco-regional hyperthermia combined with intravesical instillation of Mitomycin C, to reduce the risk of recurrence and progression of intermediate- and high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, is currently investigated in clinical trials.
Clinically effective loco-regional hyperthermia delivery requires adequate thermal dosimetry; thus, optimal thermometry methods are needed to monitor accurately the temperature distribution throughout the bladder wall.
Materials and Methods: A multi-sensor thermocouple probe was designed for deployment in the human bladder, using special sensors to cover the bladder wall in different directions. The deployment of the thermocouples against the bladder wall was evaluated with visual, endoscopic and computed tomography imaging in bladder phantoms, porcine models and human bladders obtained from obduction for bladder volumes and different deployment sizes of the probe. Finally, porcine bladders were embedded in a phantom and subjected to loco-regional heating to compare probe temperatures with additional thermometry inside and outside the bladder wall.
Results: The 7.5 cm thermocouple probe yielded optimal bladder wall contact, adapting to different bladder volumes. Temperature monitoring was shown to be accurate and representative for the actual bladder wall temperature.
Conclusions: Use of this novel multi-sensor probe could yield a more accurate monitoring of the bladder wall temperature during loco-regional chemo-hyperthermia.
Written by:
Cordeiro Feijoo ER, Geijsen DE, Zum Vörde Sive Vörding PJ, Schooneveldt G, Sijbrands J, Hulshof MC, De La Rosette J, de Reijke TM, Crezee H. Are you the author?
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Urology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Reference: J Endourol. 2013 Sep 2. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1089/end.2013-0179.ECB13
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23998508
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