"The cost of an ablation is a fourth of the cost of a resection. So with five patients converted from surgery to ablation, the system has paid for itself"

CAS-One IR users from the very start - The team of Prof. Dr. Freedman and Dr. Marie Beermann in Stockholm treated its 1000th patient with Quality Ablation in March 2021.

In this interview they elaborate on the clinical and economic benefits of CT-guided percutaneous ablations with CAS-One IR and shares some valuable learnings and insights of the interventional team at Danderyds Sjukhus in Stockholm, Sweden.

What made you interested in Quality Ablation to start with?
We had an ablation site recurrence rate of around 30% with ultrasound guided perioperative ablations, mostly open. We were not happy with that. Precision in needle guidance and also the performance of our ablation device (RFA) needed upgrading to optimize the treatment, otherwise we saw no chance for the development of ablation as a curative treatment of cancer.

Did the usage of the system change over time? What are your most valuable learnings?
We were very early users and as such have had a perfect collaboration with CASCINATION, who have always listened to our ideas on how to improve the system. Many of the functions of the system have an origin here in Stockholm.

What are the biggest clinical advantages of CAS-One IR?
The system makes virtually all lesions visible and treatable. Probably half of them would be very hard to treat with traditional ultrasound guidance. Moreover the frequent use of angulated trajectories is very difficult with a traditional CT-guided technique. So we can treat many more patients, with higher precision, with a greater choice of trajectories, getting almost perfect patterns when using multiple needles for IRE, and with a very steep learning curve for new colleagues.

What indication / type of case do you think benefits the most from the use of CAS-One IR?
All ablation cases that are not really visible with ultrasound. It is still cheaper and a little bit (but not by much) quicker to use ultrasound, in our case always fused with MRI or CT images. Finally, unlike many ultrasound guided ablations, you do not need to be a radiologist to use CAS-One, this has been important for our success as many physicians in our hospital are capable of using the system to perform ablations and we can keep up production consistently. Surgery and Radiology working together is critical.

What are the biggest economic advantages of CAS-One IR?
The cost of an ablation is a fourth of the cost of a resection. So with five patients converted from surgery to ablation, the system has paid for itself!

The Interventional Team at Danderyds Sjukhus treating the 1000th patient with CAS-One IR.