A computational study of the bioheat transfer in magnetic hyperthermia cancer therapy

Abstract

The temperature analysis in magnetic hyperthermia focuses on the main parameters that have a fundamental role in thermal damage of malignant tissue. This paper studies the influence of the parameters as (i) ferrofluid infusion rates, (ii) particle zeta potential, and (iii) magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) size on the thermal damage of tissues produced by the heating of the magnetic systems injected within the malignant tissues when an external alternating magnetic field is applied. The spatial and temporal MNP distribution, the temperature field, and thermal damage were computed considering the convection–diffusion–deposition of the particles within tissues, the bioheat transport equation, and the Arrhenius formulation for thermal tissue damage. A ferrofluid injection modeled by Darcy's equation influences strongly the bioheat transport within a malignant tissue. This extended study focuses on the essential role of these parameters to accurately predict the optimum MNP dosage which induces a hyperthermic temperature field and thermal damage of the malignant tissues.