Effect of porous heat transfer model on different equivalent thermal dose methods considering an experiment-based nanoparticle distribution during magnetic hyperthermia

Abstract

Magnetic fluid hyperthermia damages malignant cells by keeping the therapeutic temperature within a specific range after magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are exposed to an alternating magnetic field. The temperature distribution inside bio-tissue is usually predicted by a classic Pennes bio-heat transfer equation, which considers a heat source due to a homogeneous distribution for MNPs. Aiming at this problem, this study compares the Pennes model to a porous heat transfer model, named local thermal non-equilibrium equation, by considering an experiment-based MNPs distribution, and evaluates the thermal damage degree for malignant tissue by two different thermal dose methods. In addition, this study evaluates the effect of porosity and different blood perfusion rates on both effective treatment temperature and equivalent thermal dose. Simulation results demonstrate that different bio-heat transfer models can result in significant differences in both the treatment temperature profile and the thermal damage degree for tumor region under the same power dissipation of MNPs. Furthermore, scenarios considering a temperature-dependent blood perfusion rate or a lower porosity can have a positive effect on the temperature distribution inside tumor, while having a lower value in the maximum equivalent thermal dose in both thermal dose evaluation methods.