Ash 15.3 – Dr. Alex Young – Cryo-Ablation

Cryoablation is a process that uses extreme cold to destroy tissue. Cryoablation is performed using hollow needles (cryoprobes) through which cooled, thermally conductive fluids are circulated. Cryoprobes are positioned adjacent to the target in such a way that the freezing process will destroy the diseased tissue. Once the probes are in place, the attached cryogenic freezing unit removes heat from (“cools”) the tip of the probe and by extension from the surrounding tissues.

Ablation occurs in tissue that has been frozen by at least three mechanisms:

formation of ice crystals within cells thereby disrupting membranes, and interrupting cellular metabolism among other processes;
coagulation of blood thereby interrupting bloodflow to the tissue in turn causing ischemia and cell death; and
induction of apoptosis, the so-called programmed cell death cascade.