Protecting non-target tissue during ablation procedures and related systems and methods

A method for protecting non-target tissue from damage during a medical procedure for applying heat to a target tissue, comprising:

• determining, by one or more processors based on images received of a zone of tissue, one or more non-target objects of tissue that are both different than the target tissue and that are susceptible to damage from an amount of the heat applied to the target tissue;
• identifying, by the one or more processors based on the images received of the zone of tissue, a type of tissue associated with each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue;
• determining, by the one or more processors, a temperature threshold for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue, wherein the temperature threshold comprises a first temperature for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue at which a corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified is damaged quickly in a first amount of time;
• determining, by the one or more processors, a thermal dose threshold for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue based at least partially on the type of tissue identified, wherein the thermal dose threshold corresponds to an accumulation of thermal energy over time at which a the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified begins to physiologically alter when a second temperature is applied to the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified over a second amount of time, wherein the second temperature is less than the first temperature, and wherein the second amount of time is greater than the first amount of time;
• determining, by the one or more processors based on measurements received from a temperature sensor, a temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue during performance of the medical procedure;
• determining, by the one or more processors based on the temperature determined and the heat applied to the target tissue, an amount of accumulated thermal energy of each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue during performance of the medical procedure when the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue determined to be lower than the first temperature, wherein the amount of accumulated thermal energy comprises the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue and a duration that the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue is applied over a period of time during performance of the medical procedure;
• causing, by the one or more processors, a representation of the amount of accumulated thermal energy of each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue to be rendered to a user interface of a display device during performance of the medical procedure;
• and
• causing, by the one or more processors, a response alert to be output when the amount of accumulated thermal energy of any of the one or more non-target objects of tissue reaches the thermal dose threshold for the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified.

A computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory computer readable media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a computer system to cause the computer system to protect non-target tissue from damage during a medical procedure for applying heat to a target tissue, the computer-executable instructions including instructions that are executable to cause the computer system to perform at least the following:

• receive images of a zone of tissue comprising the non-target tissue and the target tissue;
• determine, based on the images of the zone of tissue, one or more non-target objects of tissue that are both different than the target tissue and that are susceptible to damage from an amount of the heat applied to the target tissue;
• identify, based on the images of the zone of tissue, a type of tissue associated with each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue;
• determine, based at least partially on the type of tissue identified, a temperature threshold for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue, wherein the temperature threshold comprises a first temperature for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue at which a corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified is damaged quickly in a first amount of time;
• determine, based at least partially on the type of tissue identified, a thermal dose threshold for each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue, wherein the thermal dose threshold corresponds to an accumulation of thermal energy over time at which the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified begins to physiologically alter when a second temperature is applied to the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified over a second amount of time, wherein the second temperature is less than the first temperature, and wherein the second amount of time is greater than the first amount of time;
• determine, based on measurements received from a temperature sensor, a temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue during performance of the medical procedure;
• determine, based on the temperature determined and the heat applied to the target tissue, an amount of accumulated thermal energy of each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue during performance of the medical procedure, wherein the amount of accumulated thermal energy comprises the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue and a duration that the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue is applied over a period of time during performance of the medical procedure when the temperature at each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue determined to be lower than the first temperature;
• cause a representation of the amount of accumulated thermal energy of each of the one or more non-target objects of tissue to be rendered to a user interface of a display device during performance of the medical procedure;
• and
• cause a response alert to be output when the amount of accumulated thermal energy of any of the one or more non-target objects of tissue reaches the thermal dose threshold for the corresponding non-target object of the type of tissue identified.