{"doi":"10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2","title":"The Paradox of Modern Technology in Standardizing Thermal Liver Ablation: Fostering Uniformity or Diversity?","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Purpose</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Currently, significant medical practice variation exists in thermal ablation (TA) of malignant liver tumors with associated differences in outcomes. The IMaging and Advanced Guidance for workflow optimization in Interventional Oncology (IMAGIO) consortium aims to integrate interventional oncology into the standard clinical pathway for cancer treatment in Europe by 2030, by development of a standardized low-complex-high-precision workflow for TA of malignant liver tumors. This study was conducted at the start of the IMAGIO project with the aim to explore the current state and future role of modern technology in TA of malignant liver tumors.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted followed by an expert focus group discussion with core members and collaborating partners of the consortium.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Of the 13 participants, 10 respondents filled in the questionnaire. During the focus group discussion, there was consensus on the need for international standardization in TA and several aspects of the procedure, such as planning based on cross-sectional images, the adoption of different techniques for needle placement and the importance of needle position- and post-ablative margin confirmation scans. Yet, also considerable heterogeneity was reported in the adoption of modern technology, particularly in navigational systems and computer-assisted margin assessment.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>This study mirrored the current diversity in workflow of thermal liver ablation. To obtain comparable outcomes worldwide, standardization is needed. While advancements in tools and software hold the potential to homogenize outcome measurement and minimize operator-dependent variability, the rapid increase in availability also contributes to enhanced workflow variation.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Graphical Abstract</jats:title>\n                \n              </jats:sec>","journal":"CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology","year":2024,"id":611622,"datarank":0.24141568686511508,"base_score":1.6094379124341003,"endowment":1.6094379124341003,"self_citation_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.24141568686511508,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":4,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1574233,"name":"Ariadne L. van der Velden","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":339946,"name":"Reto Bale","orcid":"0000-0003-0021-5792","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574236,"name":"Elena Bozzi","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574237,"name":"Laura Crocetti","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1072128,"name":"Alban Denys","orcid":"0000-0002-2275-7384","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574239,"name":"Gonnie C. M. van Erp","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574240,"name":"Faeze Gholamiankhah","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574241,"name":"Giorgio Greco","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574242,"name":"Pim Hendriks","orcid":null,"position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574243,"name":"Robrecht R. M. M. Knapen","orcid":null,"position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1388384,"name":"Hicham Kobeiter","orcid":null,"position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574244,"name":"Rodolfo Lanocita","orcid":null,"position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1543909,"name":"Martijn R. Meijerink","orcid":null,"position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574245,"name":"Franco Orsi","orcid":null,"position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574246,"name":"Alice Phillips","orcid":null,"position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574247,"name":"Hossein Rahmani","orcid":null,"position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574248,"name":"Maarten L. J. Smits","orcid":null,"position":17,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574249,"name":"Marco J. L. van Strijen","orcid":null,"position":18,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1540858,"name":"Ronald M. van Dam","orcid":null,"position":19,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574250,"name":"Christiaan van der Leij","orcid":null,"position":20,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574251,"name":"Mark C. Burgmans","orcid":null,"position":21,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1574231,"name":"Coosje A. M. Verhagen","orcid":"0009-0008-6503-6326","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"The Paradox of Modern Technology in Standardizing Thermal Liver Ablation: Fostering Uniformity or Diversity?","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Purpose</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Currently, significant medical practice variation exists in thermal ablation (TA) of malignant liver tumors with associated differences in outcomes. The IMaging and Advanced Guidance for workflow optimization in Interventional Oncology (IMAGIO) consortium aims to integrate interventional oncology into the standard clinical pathway for cancer treatment in Europe by 2030, by development of a standardized low-complex-high-precision workflow for TA of malignant liver tumors. This study was conducted at the start of the IMAGIO project with the aim to explore the current state and future role of modern technology in TA of malignant liver tumors.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted followed by an expert focus group discussion with core members and collaborating partners of the consortium.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>Of the 13 participants, 10 respondents filled in the questionnaire. During the focus group discussion, there was consensus on the need for international standardization in TA and several aspects of the procedure, such as planning based on cross-sectional images, the adoption of different techniques for needle placement and the importance of needle position- and post-ablative margin confirmation scans. Yet, also considerable heterogeneity was reported in the adoption of modern technology, particularly in navigational systems and computer-assisted margin assessment.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n                <jats:p>This study mirrored the current diversity in workflow of thermal liver ablation. To obtain comparable outcomes worldwide, standardization is needed. While advancements in tools and software hold the potential to homogenize outcome measurement and minimize operator-dependent variability, the rapid increase in availability also contributes to enhanced workflow variation.</jats:p>\n              </jats:sec><jats:sec>\n                <jats:title>Graphical Abstract</jats:title>\n                \n              </jats:sec>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":1.6094379124341003,"endowment":1.6094379124341003,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"39227426","pmcid":"PMC11486791","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4402170726","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"Innovative Health Initiative","grant_id":"101112053","title":"IMAGING AND ADVANCED GUIDANCE FOR WORKFLOW OPTIMIZATION IN INTERVENTIONAL ONCOLOGY"}],"total_grants":1,"fwci":0.9784,"citation_percentile":0.75093103,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2025,"count":1},{"year":2026,"count":3}],"oa_status":"hybrid","license":"cc-by","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2.pdf","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2/fulltext.html","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39227426","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pure.amsterdamumc.nl/en/publications/7f813e4b-f57d-4f43-ad01-8939d8a450ba","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/11486791","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_E4541F96F85C","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/458256","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://iris.unil.ch/handle/iris/155860","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pure.amsterdamumc.nl/ws/files/141666766/The-paradox-of-modern-technology-in-standardizing-thermal-liver-ablation.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11486791/pdf/270_2024_Article_3846.pdf","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://iris.unil.ch/bitstreams/ce137602-d094-4db4-84cf-3f84ec3ace4d/download","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11486791","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC11486791?pdf=render","host_type":"Europe_PMC"},{"url":"http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00270-024-03846-2","host_type":""},{"url":"https://cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl/en/publications/0f5ebb59-1fe5-4de8-8aab-eed2acaa87e1","host_type":""},{"url":"https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_E4541F96F85C.P001/REF.pdf","host_type":""},{"url":"http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_E4541F96F85C7","host_type":""}],"fields_of_study":["Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis","Management of metastatic bone disease","Infrared Thermography in Medicine","03 medical and health sciences","0302 clinical medicine","Humans","Liver Neoplasms","Cross-Sectional Studies","Surveys and Questionnaires","Ablation Techniques","Focus Groups","Workflow","Europe"],"mesh_terms":["Cross-Sectional Studies","Europe","Humans","Liver Neoplasms","Surveys and Questionnaires","Focus Groups","Ablation Techniques","Workflow"],"keywords":["Medicine","Workflow","Standardization","Medical physics","Thermal ablation","Radiology","Ablation","Internal medicine","Computer science","Liver tumor","Modern technology","Interventional Oncology","Ablation Techniques","Humans; Liver Neoplasms/surgery; Liver Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging; Cross-Sectional Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Ablation Techniques/methods; Focus Groups; Workflow; Europe; Interventional oncology; Liver tumor; Modern technology; Standardization; Thermal ablation","Short Communication","Liver Neoplasms","Focus Groups","Europe","Cross-Sectional Studies","HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA","Surveys and Questionnaires","SURVIVAL","Humans"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Partnerships for the goals"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-01T21:13:43.323333Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}