Two-dimensional finite element model to study temperature distribution in peripheral regions of extended spherical human organs involving uniformly perfused tumors

Abstract

Temperature as an indicator of tissue response is widely used in clinical applications. In view of above a problem of temperature distribution in peripheral regions of extended spherical organs of a human body like, human breast involving uniformly perfused tumor is investigated in this paper. The human breast is assumed to be spherical in shape with upper hemisphere projecting out from the trunk of the body and lower hemisphere is considered to be a part of the body core. The outer surface of the breast is assumed to be exposed to the environment from where the heat loss takes place by conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. The heat transfer from core to the surface takes place by thermal conduction and blood perfusion. Also metabolic activity takes place at different rates in different layers of the breast. An elliptical-shaped tumor is assumed to be present in the dermis region of human breast. A finite element model is developed for a two-dimensional steady state case incorporating the important parameters like blood flow, metabolic activity and thermal conductivity. The triangular ring elements are employed to discretize the region. Appropriate boundary conditions are framed using biophysical conditions. The numerical results are used to study the effect of tumor on temperature distribution in the region.