Thermal Response of Dielectric Nanoparticle Infused Tissue Phantoms during Microwave Assisted Hyperthermia

Abstract

Hyperthermia has been in use for many years; as a potential alternative modality for cancer treatment. In this paper, an experimental investigation of microwave assisted thermal heating (MWATH) of tissue phantom using a domestic microwave oven has been reported. Computer simulations using finite element method based tools was also carried out to support the experimental observations and probe insight on the thermal transport aspects deep within the tissue phantom. A good agreement between predicted and measured temperature were achieved. Furthermore, experiments were conducted to investigate the efficacy of dielectric nanoparticles viz. alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) and titanium oxide (TiO 2 ) during the MWATH of nanoparticle infused tumor phantoms. A deep seated tumor injected with nanoparticle solution was specifically mimicked in the experiments. Interesting results were obtained in terms of spatiotemporal thermal history of the nanoparticle infused tissue