The scholarship holder's final report Paola Saccomandi
During my stay at the Radiology Institute of the University Clinic in Frankfurt am Main (Universitätsklinikums Frankfurt, Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany), from 26 September 2013 to 31 January 2014, I was involved in two projects.
The first, having as reference Prof. Dr. med. Thomas J. Vogl, covered CT thermometry during Laser Thermoablation procedures (LITT) on an ex vivo animal model. Dual Energy CT was used to monitor the variation of Hounsfield Unit (HU) of porcine liver subjected to a LITT treatment, conducted through a water-cooled diffusion probe. The aim of the study was to define the relationship between the HU variation of the tissue, as a function of the temperature variation induced during laser ablation. The definitive aim concerns the possibility for the clinician to monitor the temperature variation and, consequently, the correct trend of the LITT, in real time, establishing the volume of tumor tissue that is removed, and therefore the efficacy of the treatment.
The second project concerned the study of the optical properties of some biological tissues. The experiments were conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Biophysics of the Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, under the supervision of Prof. Mäntele. An ad hoc experimental set up was developed for the estimation of the anisotropy and scattering coefficient of porcine pancreas, liver and muscle tissue, at two wavelengths (850 nm and 1064 nm). The aim of this study concerns the description of the causes of the laser-tissue interaction, in order to model the effects of laser radiation for the removal of tumors in different organs.
In both cases, the good and original results of the studies are considered suitable for publication in international journals.
