Heat is a form of energy that belongs to the realm of physics, but also often accompanies the chemical reactions that occur in the process. The use of heat energy to promote health and treat disease was better tried as early as around 400 BC by Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician and founder of Western medicine, using more primitive methods such as roasting by fire and immersion in warm baths. With the great development and progress of modern physical technology and electronic technology, thermal therapy has gained a new important position in clinical medicine, especially for the treatment of tumors, changing the situation that chemotherapy and radiotherapy unify the world of non-surgical treatment of tumors. Among them, microwave, radiofrequency and laser are the main heat generating media. Usually, the thermal therapy of tumor is called thermal ablation therapy, thus there are microwave ablation therapy, radiofrequency ablation therapy and laser ablation therapy. Depending on the implementation route of thermal ablation therapy, it can be divided into percutaneous thermal ablation (without skin incision, with the help of puncture technique), laparoscopic thermal ablation (with the help of laparoscopic orifice), and open thermal ablation (in open abdomen or open chest). The thyroid gland is the largest endocrine organ in the body and is frequently subject to various diseases, such as hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism), hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism), acute bacterial thyroiditis (abscess), subacute thyroiditis (associated with viral infection), chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s disease), nodular goiter, thyroid adenoma, thyroid cancer, thyroid lymphoma, etc. Thermal ablation for thyroid disease is a method that has gradually emerged in recent years, and most foreign countries apply radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation, while domestic countries mainly apply microwave ablation and radiofrequency ablation. The team led by Professor Zhang Jianquan of the Ultrasound Department of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital (Second Military Medical University Hospital) is the first to explore the technology and establish the clinical treatment standard in the field of thermal ablation of thyroid diseases in China, and is skilled in the operation and perfection of the process. Other hospitals in China that have started thermal ablation treatment for thyroid diseases have basically sent their staff to study and train in the ultrasound department of Changzheng Hospital. Thermal ablation treatment of thyroid disease is performed by means of a percutaneous puncture technique with the help of high-end ultrasound equipment to accurately display and guide the lesion and the treatment needle. Because the needle is very thin, the puncture path is very minimally invasive, and the ultrasound image monitors the treatment area in real time to avoid over- or under-treatment, it is a minimally invasive treatment with strong technological leadership and scientific innovation. The laser fiber directly transmits laser heat to the lesion, while microwave and RF needles transmit not heat itself, but electromagnetic waves and high-frequency alternating current with the ability to conduct, electromagnetic waves and high-frequency alternating current transform energy into heat in the lesion, and the fresher the lesion tissue is the easier the generation and spread of heat, and eventually the thyroid lesion is damaged by heat and coagulation necrosis occurs, and the necrotic material is quickly Therefore, instead of removing the lesion out of the body (that is the surgical way), thermal ablation treatment uses the body’s immune phagocytic ability to dissolve and absorb the damaged lesion tissue, which eventually disappears. At present, the following thyroid disorders have been proven to be suitable for thermal ablation: i. Benign nodules: thyroid adenoma, nodular goiter, colloid thyroid retention (also called cyst) ii. Malignant nodules: thyroid cancer, recurrent thyroid cancer, metastatic or recurrent cancer in the lymph nodes of the neck However, the following cases have not been included in the scope of thermal ablation: i. Hyperthyroidism in adolescence ii. {Iodine hyperthyroidism iii. inflammation of the thyroid gland (subacute thyroiditis, Hashimoto’s disease easily accompanied by hypothyroidism), unless the tumor occurs in the context of Hashimoto’s disease So, what kind of thyroid nodules need thermal ablation therapy? It should be emphasized that thyroid thermal ablation therapy is a technological innovation and a transformation of the concept in the field of surgical treatment, which is a very important complement to surgical treatment. Therefore, the choice of thermal ablation therapy is based on the premise that the patient’s condition requires surgical intervention. On this basis, those lesions that are too small to be touched by the surgeon, those lesions that are too diffusely distributed to be removed by surgery one by one, and those new lesions that occur as a result of scar adhesions in the neck due to previous surgical procedures are the best indications for choosing ultrasound-guided percutaneous thermal ablation therapy. Thermal ablation of thyroid disease is a reliable and preferred option from the perspectives of minimally invasive, cosmetic, safety and effectiveness. As for whether to choose microwave ablation or radiofrequency ablation, the interventional physician will make a comprehensive study based on the size and location of the lesion.