Nano-Cryosurgery to Tackle the Deficiency in Conventional Freezing of Tumors With Large Blood Vessels

Abstract

Recently, nano-cryosurgery was proposed to improve freezing efficiency of the conventional cryosurgery. As is well known, the effect of thermally significant large blood vessel on temperature has long been a research focus for conventional cryosurgery, since the warm blood flowing through large vessel may result in insufficient freezing and tumor residual. However, there is little information concerning the effects of large vessels on the temperature distribution and freezing lesion in nano-cryosurgery. In this study, two typical vascular models were applied to investigate the effects of large blood vessels to the thermal distribution and freezing lesion during nano-cryosurgery. The numerical results indicated that, after localized introduction of nanoparticles, large vessels embedding in tumor tissues can be totally frozen during cryosurgery and thus the insufficient freezing region surrounding large vessels can be effectively eliminated. The results also suggested that adjuvant use of nanoparticles is expected to serve as a promising method to tackle the deficiency in conventional freezing of tumors with large blood vessels in future oncological clinics.