Liquid metal bath as conformable soft electrodes for target tissue ablation in radio-frequency ablation therapy

Abstract Background: Radio-frequency ablation has been an important physical method for tumor hyperthermia therapy. The conventional rigid electrode boards are often uncomfortable and inconvenient for performing surgery on irregular tumors, especially for those tumors near the joints, such as ankles, knee-joints or other facets like finger joints. Material and methods: We proposed and demonstrated a highly conformable tumor ablation strategy through introducing liquid metal bath as conformable soft electrodes. Different heights of liquid metal bath electrodes were adopted to perform radio-frequency ablation on targeted tissues. Temperature and ablation area were measured to compare the ablation effect with plate metal electrodes. Results: The recorded temperature around the ablation electrode was almost twice as high as that with the plate electrode and the effective ablated area was 2–3 fold larger in all the mimicking situations of bone tumors, span-shaped or round-shaped tumors. Another unique feature of the liquid metal electrode therapy is that the incidence of heat injury was reduced, which is a severe accident that can occur during the treatment of irregular tumors with plate metal boards. Conclusions: The present method suggests a new way of using soft liquid metal bath electrodes for targeted minimally invasive tumor ablation in future clinical practice.