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The objective of this study was to compare three different heat transfer models for radiofrequency ablation of in vivo liver tissue using a cooled electrode and three different voltage levels. The comparison was between the simplest but less realistic Pennes’ equation and two porous media-based models, i.e. the Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium (LTNE) equations and Local Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) equation, both modified to take into account two-phase water vaporization (tissue and blood). Different blood volume fractions in liver were considered and the blood velocity was modeled to simulate a vascular network. Governing equations with the appropriate boundary conditions were solved with Comsol Multiphysics finite-element code. The results in terms of coagulation transverse diameters and temperature distributions at the end of the application showed significant differences, especially between Pennes and the modified LTNE and LTE models. The new modified porous media-based models covered the ranges found in the few in vivo experimental studies in the literature and they were closer to the published results with similar in vivo protocol. The outcomes highlight the importance of considering the three models in the future in order to improve thermal ablation protocols and devices and adapt the model to different organs and patient profiles.

The investigation of bioheat transfer is a difficult issue because it entails a mixture of many mechanisms to take into account, such as thermal conduction in tissues, convection and blood perfusion, metabolic heat generation, vascular structure, changing of tissue properties depending on physiological condition and so on. This topic has a key role to predict accurately the temperature distribution in tissues, especially during biomedical applications. In this paper, different bioheat transfer models are resumed and compared. The biological tissue is modelled as a porous sphere and liver tissue properties are used. Governing equations are averaged over a Representative Elementary Volume (REV) of the living tissue. Transient bioheat equations based on models like, for example, Pennes model, Local Thermal Non-Equilibrium equations (LTNE model), are employed. In the employed equations, radiative heat transfer is also considered. Governing equations with the appropriate boundary conditions are solved with the finite-element code COMSOL Multiphysics®. The effects of hyperthermia on the living tissue are included with a source term in the tissue energy equation. Results are presented in terms of temperature profiles in the biological tissue; the aim is to appreciate differences due to the various bioheat models.

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