Image-guided fusion and navigation: applications in tumor ablation.

Navigation technology and multimodality image fusion represent an important development in interventional radiology. It is a rapidly developing field with great promise for improving, optimizing, and refining our workflow, especially for performing complex and difficult biopsies and ablations. It can potentially reduce procedure time, radiation dose, and complications while enhancing procedure accuracy and effectiveness. Additionally, such techniques are likely to greatly benefit less experienced operators and shorten the long learning curve to mastery of conventional procedures. Here, we describe different aspects of currently available image-guided fusion devices including the types of clinically available technological platforms (electromagnetic vs optical fusion) used to fuse prior and real-time images; pretest planning software; and advantages and limitations reported in preclinical and emerging clinical studies. Much refinement and development still needs to be performed for both the tracking systems and preablation software predictability, but this is anticipated as substantial research within the framework of multiple academic industrial partnerships is ongoing.