Clinical effectiveness of an intelligent shell temperature control system in deep tumor hyperthermia

Abstract

Objective To investigate the clinical effectiveness of an intelligent shell temperature control system in deep tumor hyperthermia for controlling the temperature in the outer shell of chest and abdominal malignancies. Methods From 2015 to 2016, a randomized comparative study was carried out in the intelligent temperature control system (experimental group containing 37 patients with chest tumor and 26 patients with abdominal tumor) and conventional cooling by replacement of water bags (control group containing 37 patients with chest tumor and 25 patients with abdominal tumor) for chest and abdominal tumor hyperthermia. The effectiveness in controlling the outer shell temperature was compared between the two methods. Results In the experimental group, the first boot of the cooling system occurred at 24.1 and 21.8 minutes on average after the hyperthermia started and the average number of system boots was 2.5. In the control group, patients reminded to replace the water bag at 33.1 and 33.8 minutes on average after the hyperthermia started and the average number of replacements was 3.6. The highest outer shell temperature in patients with chest tumor and abdominal tumor averaged 38.5 and 39.1 ℃ at the first boot of the cooling system in the experimental group and 39.3 and 40.4 ℃ at the first replacement of the cooling water bag in the control group, respectively. The treatment with and without the intelligent temperature control system caused grade ≥Ⅱ empyrosis in 1 and 4 patients with chest tumor and in 0 and 3 patients with abdominal tumor, respectively. Conclusions In deep tumor hyperthermia, compared with the conventional cooling by replacement of water bags, the intelligent shell temperature control system can detect and cool the high-temperature zone in the outer shell at an earlier time, which effectively reduces the incidence of skin burn injury. Key words: Deep hyperthermia; Scalded skin; Temperature control