Sheffield Teaching Hospital elevates Liver Tumour Ablation Care with CAS-One IR

Under the leadership of Naomi Hersey, Sheffield Teaching Hospital has taken a decisive step toward transforming its liver ablation service by introducing CAS-One IR. So far they have treated over 10 patients and it approaches habitual use in their center.

Recognizing the Need for Change

“For years, we were running an ultrasound-guided ablation service,” Naomi recalls. “But we often had to decline patients because the cases were too complex or the target lesions weren’t safely accessible. Those patients were then referred for surgery or received non-curative treatments. That was difficult — we knew we could do better.”

When the team reviewed emerging clinical evidence from the MAVERRIC and COLLISION trials, it became clear that image-guided ablation with precise margin confirmation represented a new standard of care. “We realized we had to fundamentally change our ablation service. If we wanted to provide the best possible outcomes for our patients, we needed to go from the lowest to the highest possible level — from ultrasound guidance to CAS-One IR,” she explains.

Making It Happen

Implementing a new technology within a large hospital system is rarely straightforward. “It was a long and sometimes bumpy road,” Naomi admits. “We had to convince many stakeholders and build a strong business case. That’s where our Business Unit Manager, Lance Burn, played a crucial role.” Together, they demonstrated that introducing CAS-One IR would not only increase the number of patients eligible for ablation, but also help release valuable theatre capacity, shorten length of stay, and reduce overall treatment costs. “When the final approval came through, I was absolutely delighted,” Naomi says. “I knew this would fundamentally change how liver cancer patients are treated in our hospital.”

From Vision to Reality

Once approval was secured, a few operational challenges remained. The team had to wait for the installation of a new CT scanner and coordinate with the anaesthesia department to build additional capacity. “By August, we were ready. All relevant teams were trained, and we felt confident to start treating patients,” Naomi recounts.

After the first seven cases, the impact was already evident. “CAS-One IR is delivering exactly what we hoped for. One patient even sent me a heartfelt letter of thanks — that really touched me. It’s rewarding to see that we can now offer state-of-the-art ablations that spare patients from more invasive or non-curative treatments.”

She adds: “The AI-supported planning and ablation confirmation tools are incredibly powerful. Margin confirmation is now a must-have for us — as we aim to reduce local tumour recurrence to below 5%. And with CAS-One IR, I truly believe this is achievable.”

"Being involved in this new service has been incredibly rewarding, even at this early stage. The cascination team have been extremely supportive, offering exceptional training and hands-on support to help guide us through the system. Truly this has been a team effort, and I am excited to continue to offer this service to our patients."

You can read more on Sheffield's own hospital webpage here