Theoretical evaluation of high frequency microwave ablation applied in cancer therapy

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering Vol. 107; pp. 501 - 507
• Main Authors: Wu, Xi, Liu, Baolin, Xu, Binkai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25.08.2016
• Subjects: Biological heat transfer; Collateral damage; Hyperthermia; Liver cancer; Microwave ablation; Numerical methods; Microwave ablation; Liver cancer; Biological heat transfer; Collateral damage; Hyperthermia; Numerical methods
• ISSN: 1359-4311
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2016.07.010

•Complex biological tissue consists of liver and tumor tissue in microwave ablation modeling.•The dielectric properties of liver and tumor tissue lead to different material response at various microwave frequency.•High frequency (6GHz, 18GHz) microwave causes more concentrated ablation area and less collateral damage.•Internal cooling system is indispensable to conventional microwave ablation system (915MHz, 2450MHz). Microwave ablation (MWA) is a type of hyperthermia therapy to cancer disease area. Conventional MWA with electromagnetic frequency as 915MHz and 2450MHz have been widely used to clinical surgery. However, higher frequency sources for Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands have been available for tumor detection. In this paper, we evaluated the effect of high frequency microwave (6GHz and 18GHz) applied to liver cancer therapy against conventional microwave (915MHz, 2450MHz) by a finite element model coupled electromagnetic field and bio-heat transfer equation. Tissue damaged region, temperature rise and distribution characteristics were analyzed in the biological tissue consists of liver and tumor tissue that may represent a realistic situation of cancer treatment. The results show that high frequency MWA can cause less collateral damage, more concentrated ablation region and better material response than conventional MWA. The investigation indicates that high frequency microwave can be applied to cancer therapy.