Advances in MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for intracranial lesions

MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a minimally invasive treatment modality for intracranial lesions that offers a lower complication rate and less surgical trauma compared to open surgery.LITT is a technique that utilizes heat emitted from a laser device to selectively ablate lesions or tissues.During MRIguided LITT surgery procedure, a navigation robot is used to invasively insert an optical fiber to ablation zone.The laser energy is accurately delivered to the ablation target.Temperature changes within the ablation zone can be monitored and controlled in real time with MR temperature mapping.The ablation zone coverage can be visualized using a predictive model which guides the real time adjustment of fiber position and laser energy to selectively ablate tissues.MRI-guided LITT can avoid damaging the critical structures and functional areas within the brain, while achieving accurate ablation zone coverage, enabling safe and precise conformal ablation.Studies have demonstrated that MRI-guided LITT has good efficacy and safety, and can provide a new minimally invasive modality for the treatment of intracranial lesions.