Specific absorption rate calculations of magnetite, using a modified linear response model for applications in magnetic hyperthermia

Abstract

Currently the absorption of electromagnetic radiation by magnetic nanoparticles is studied for biomedical applications of cancer thermotherapy. Several experiments are conduced following the framework of the Rosensweig model, in order to estimate their specific absorption rate. Nevertheless, this linear approximation involves strong simplifications which constrain their accuracy and validity range. The main aim of this work is to incorporate the deviation of the sphericity assumption in particles shapes, to improve the determination of their specific absorption rate. The correction to the effective particles volume is computed as a measure of the apparent amount of magnetic material, interacting with the external AC magnetic field. Preliminary results using the physical properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, exhibit an important correction in their estimated specific absorption rate, as a function of the apparent mean particles radius. Indeed, we have observed using a small deviation (6% of the apparent radius), up to 40% of the predicted specific absorption rate by the Rosensweig linear approximation.