Fig. 1

CONSORT-style flowchart summarizing the experimental design. Timepoints were defined as follows: t0 = day 21 post-cell injection (baseline MRI for both groups); t2 = 72 h post-RFA (day 24) for the RFA group, and day 29 for the control group. Both groups underwent MRI at t0 and t2, followed by histological analysis at sacrifice.