When you have a "bad thing" growing inside your body, do you choose surgery or let the doctor use an "electric needle" to "burn it to death" from the inside? Radiofrequency ablation is the latter - a minimally invasive method that uses high-frequency electric current to generate heat and precisely eliminate the lesion.
Ⅰ. Working Principle: Like "heating rice in a microwave oven"
Under image guidance, the doctor inserts an electrode-equipped catheter into the lesion.
High-frequency current (460–500 kHz) causes ion vibrations and frictional heat generation, rapidly raising the local temperature to 50–100°C.
Lesion cells coagulate and necrotize at temperatures above 60°C, while surrounding normal tissue is preserved due to the heat dissipation effect.
Ⅱ. Wide Range of Applications
Initially used to treat arrhythmias, it has now expanded to include liver cancer, lung cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid nodules, uterine fibroids, and other diseases.
Ⅲ. Four Major Advantages
Minimally Invasive: Most procedures require only local anesthesia and puncture, resulting in rapid recovery and even same-day discharge.
Precise: Image-guided ablation achieves millimeter-level accuracy, and robotic-assisted cardiac ablation can also be used.
Multiple Scenarios: Applicable to multiple organs and diseases.
Repeatable: Treatment can be divided into multiple sessions, making it particularly suitable for recurrent or multiple lesions.
Ⅳ. Technological Evolution: From "Single-Point Barbecue" to "Smart Hot Pot"
Cold Circulation: Iced saline is injected into the electrodes to prevent scab formation and expand the treatment range.
Multipolar Synchronization: Multiple electrodes operate simultaneously to eliminate tumors in one go.
AI Temperature Control: Real-time power adjustment to avoid excessive damage.
Robotic Navigation: Enables precise "autonomous driving" treatment.
For example, the BroncAblate system, approved in China in 2025, combines cold circulation, multipolarization, and AI temperature control for the treatment of small lung nodules.
Conclusion
The success of radiofrequency ablation is inseparable from the skilled operation of doctors and the continuous innovation of engineers in fluid mechanics, materials science, and algorithms. It is becoming an important precision treatment tool in modern medicine.