Destruction of Fibroadenomas Using Photothermal Heating of Fe3O4 Nanoparticles: Experiments and Models

Abstract

Conventionally, observation (yearly breast imaging) is preferred to therapy to manage small-sized fibroadenomas because they are normally benign tumors. However, recent reports of increased cancer risk coupled with patient anxiety due to fear of malignancy motivate the need for non-aggressive interventions with minimal side-effects to destroy such tumors. Here, we describe an integrated approach composed of experiments and models for photothermal therapy for fibroadenomas destruction. We characterized the optical and structural properties and quantified the heat generation performance of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) by experiments. On the basis of the optical and structural results, we obtained the optical absorption coefficient of the Fe3O4 NPs via predictions based on the Mie scattering theory and integrated it into a computational model to predict in-vivo thermal damage profiles of NP-embedded fibroadenomas located within a multi-tissue breast model and irradiated with near-infrared 810 nm laser. In a series of temperature-controlled parametric studies, we demonstrate the feasibility of NP-mediated photothermal therapy for the destruction of small fibroadenomas and the influence of tumor size on the selection of parameters such as NP concentration, treatment duration and irradiation protocols (treatment durations and laser power). The implications of the results are then discussed for the development of an integrated strategy for a noninvasive photothermal therapy for fibroadenomas.

Photothermally-Heated Superparamagnetic Polymeric Nanocomposite Implants for Interstitial Thermotherapy

“… Structural and optical characterization of MNPs results. ( a ) X-ray diffraction spectra of MNPs at a power of 45 kV × 40 mA (Adapted from [ 32 ]). ( b ) Transmission electron microscopy of Fe O at magnification of 0.5 mm, scale bar: 100 nm and ( c ) the corresponding nanoparticle count as a function of size, D. UV-vis-NIR absorbance spectra as a function of ( d ) for 6 mM of MNPs and ( e ) [Fe O ] at = 810 nm.…”

Special Issue “Numerical and Analytical Methods in Electromagnetics”

“…The impressive application range of computational electromagnetics is clearly demonstrated in [10]. I.…”