Alternating Magnetic Field Coils Optimization for Magnetic Nanoparticles Hyperthermia

Abstract

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases in this era. Currently many researchers from different fields are collaborating to find an optimum cure. One of the treatment methods involves the use of Magnetic Nanoparticles Hyperthermia (MNPH). This involves the insertion of Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs) at cancerous tumors locations and using an external current carrying coil to apply an alternating magnetic field (AMF) that would activate the MNPs located inside the tumor tissues. In return, the activation of the MNPs would result in concentrated heat at tumor locations, which can be intense enough to destroy tumor tissues. Alternating magnetic fields means also the introduction of electric field, which results in eddy currents at surrounding healthy tissues. The resulted eddy currents produce unwanted heat and damage the surrounding healthy tissues especially when high currents (up to several hundred Amps) is used to deliver the required AMF intensity for deep tissues tumors. This paper presents a full computational and graphical electromagnetic study of a real human model. Specific absorption rates (SARs) are computed and presented across different tissues in the body with different coil configurations. The optimum coil configuration with the maximum AMF at the pancreatic tumor injected MNPs and minimum eddy currents on surrounding healthy tissues was deduced.