Finite element analysis of the effect of microwave ablation on the liver, lung, kidney, and bone malignant tissues

Abstract

Microwave ablation becomes a promising thermal modality for treating cancerous tumor cells in patients who are non-surgical candidates. To ensure the destruction of cancer cells with minimal damage to healthy tissue, the elevation of temperature and the evolution of the necrotic tissue need to be controlled. Besides experimental methods, computer modeling evolves into a powerful approach for improving the performance of the ablative treatment. This letter reports on the numerical studies of the microwave ablation effect on the liver, lung, kidney, and bone tumoral tissues. Calculations were performed by using the COMSOL Multiphysic based on a multi-component plasma fluid model. Simulation conditions include the microwave frequency of , the input power of , and taking into account the temperature dependence of dielectric properties of the tissue. The total loss power density, the temperature distribution, the fraction of the tissue damage, and the specific absorption rate have been determined. It was shown that the temperature distribution has an ellipsoidal shape reaching the maximal values required for effective cancer treatment but to avoid damaging healthy cells near the antenna slot. From the degree of tissue injury, the fraction of damage has been estimated revealing that the microwave ablation zones are concentrated around the tip and slot of the antenna. Also, the ablation of the tumor cells can be achieved over a long period without damaging healthy cells when small input power is used. The obtained results confirm that simulations can be very useful for predicting optimal conditions for the minimal damage of the healthy tissue during microwave ablation, and therefore may be implemented into treatment planning.

An Analysis of Microwave Ablation Parameters for Treatment of Liver Tumors from the 3D-IRCADb-01 Database

“…The active ablation zone closest to the antenna encompassed the volume of tissue that was subjected to sufficiently high energy absorption to ensure thermal tissue. In contrast, the passive ablation zone surrounded the active zone involving the volume of tissue, which experienced a lower intensity of energy absorption [ 43 , 48 ]. However, the ablation zones shown in the upper figures (in the cut plane) may not accurately reflect the ablated tissue.…”

“…Nowadays, thermal therapy has evolved into a very important topic in medicine, and many studies on the application of heat transfer to living tissues have been carried out in the last few decades, including cancer tumor treatment, drug delivery [ 39 ], or pain relief [ 40 ]. Numerical studies may have a great impact on patient care by creating predictive models from procedural planning to execution [ 41 , 42 , 43 ]. Moreover, the lack of experimentation in this field underlines mathematical models even more significantly.…”

“…Both references present 2D axisymmetric calculations only. Most of the existing numerical models of MWA are mainly two-dimensional (2D) axis-symmetric, assuming a homogeneous medium and reducing the problem from three-dimensional (3D) to 2D [ 43 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Numerical analogy of bioheat transfer and microwave cancer therapy for liver tissue

“…However, the tumor prolateness and oblateness had an impact on the necrotic tumor area. Radmilovic‐Radjenovic et al 27 examined numerically the impact of MWA on tumoral tissues of the liver, lung, kidney, and bone. The authors calculated the total loss power density, temperature distribution, tissue damage fraction, and SAR profiles and discovered that simulations can be very helpful in predicting optimal conditions for minimizing damage to healthy tissue during MWA, and thus might be implemented into treatment planning.…”

On Efficacy of Microwave Ablation in the Thermal Treatment of an Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma

“…In further developments and improvements of the design and optimization of microwave ablation devices, a numerical model of the antenna-tissue system play a central role in providing vital information on the thermal behavior of the tissue [ 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. The performance of the antenna has been estimated considering the specific absorption rate, antenna impedance, and geometry of the obtained thermal lesion [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 ].…”