Preliminary study of viability and histopathological changes of the neural structures in a thermal insulating model of the spinal canal during percutaneous cone beam computed tomography guided vertebral cryoablation in swine

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the viability, reproducibility and safety of the cone beam computed tomography guided percutaneous vertebral cryoablation in a swine model, by means of the spinal canal thermal protection with the help of a mechanical device associated with the carbon dioxide (CO2). The histopathological changes will be observed in the acute and subacute phases (05 days). The evaluation criteria of the spinal cord protection during vertebral cryoablation include the easiness of the vertebrae and the spinal canal access, the ability to define the beginning and end of the cryoablation, the protection device visibility in the spinal canal, the freezing protocol, the depth and length of the vertebral freezing as well as neural structures preservation after the vertebral freezing. (AU)