Mithun M. Shenoi

Year Entered: 2004

Degrees Received:
B.S., Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University , 2004

Thesis Advisor:  John Bischof, Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program

Thesis Research: 

Thermal ablation therapies are gaining increasing clinical acceptance for the treatment of focal malignancies in several organs including breast, kidney, liver, prostate and skin. Several technologies have been developed for the delivery of thermal energy to tumor tissues. These include radiofrequency ablation (RFA), cryoablation, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), microwaves, lasers, etc. Since most of these therapies are delivered in a minimally invasive manner, possible advantages of ablative therapies compared with surgical resection include the anticipated reduction in morbidity and mortality, low cost, suitability for real-time imaging guidance, ability to perform ablative procedures on an outpatient basis, and the potential application in a wider spectrum of patients-including those who are not surgical candidates.

Our lab is focussed on the use of TNF-alpha as a molecular adjuvant to enhance the efficacy of tumor destruction via thermal ablation. This has implications for reducing local recurrence and metastases as well as improving the imaging potential of the cryoablation technique. My work involves using imaging techniques to understand the tissue injury responses (coagulation, inflammation, wound healing) following thermal ablation. This work will be carried out in the context of comparing differences between high temperature and low temperature thermal ablation therapies.