Numerical study of magnetic hyperthermia ablation of breast tumor on an anatomically realistic breast phantom

Abstract

Magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) is a novel reliable technique with excellent potential for thermal therapies and treating breast tumours. This method involves injecting a magnetic nanofluid into the tumour and applying an external AC magnetic field to induce heat in the magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and raise the tumour temperature to ablation temperature ranges. Because of the complexity of considering and coupling all different physics involves in this phenomenon and also due to the intricacy of a thorough FEM numerical study, few FEM-based studies address the entire MFH process as similar to reality as possible. The current study investigates a FEM-based three-dimensional numerical simulation of MFH of breast tumours as a multi-physics problem. An anatomically realistic breast phantom (ARBP) is considered, some magnetic nanofluid is injected inside the tumour, and the diffusion phenomenon is simulated. Then, the amount of heat generated in the MNP-saturated tumour area due to an external AC magnetic field is simulated. In the end, the fraction of tumour tissue necrotized by this temperature rise is evaluated. The study’s results demonstrate that by injecting nanofluid and utilizing seven circular copper windings with each coil carrying 400 A current with a frequency of 400 kHz for generating the external AC magnetic field, the temperature in tumour tissue can be raised to a maximum of about 51.4°C, which leads to necrosis of entire tumour tissue after 30 minutes of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure. This numerical platform can depict all four various physics involved in the MFH of breast tumours by numerically solving all different equation sets coupled together with high precision. Thus, the proposed model can be utilized by clinicians as a reliable tool for predicting and identifying the approximate amount of temperature rise and the necrotic fraction of breast tumour, which can be very useful to opt for the best MFH therapeutic procedure and conditions based on various patients. In future works, this numerical platform’s results should be compared with experimental in-vivo results to improve and modify this platform in order to be ready for clinical applications.

A 3D Approach Using a Control Algorithm to Minimize the Effects on the Healthy Tissue in the Hyperthermia for Cancer Treatment

“…In future work, we plan to evaluate the proposed method for more realistic tumors and tissue shapes [ 43 , 44 ], or even those obtained from patient-specific images [ 45 ]. The simplifications adopted in this model may not be the best choices to represent some phenomena.…”

Non-Surgical Definitive Treatment for Operable Breast Cancer: Current Status and Future Prospects

“…Compounds possessing various unique properties other than thermoconversion are being developed [ 62 , 63 ]. In magnetic hyperthermia, magnetic nanoparticles are injected into the tumor, and alternating the magnetic field induces heat by interacting with the nanoparticles [ 64 , 65 ]. The temperature reaches 43 °C or higher, leading to the apoptosis of cancer cells.…”

In Silico Experiments to Explore the Heating Efficiency of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Hyperthermia Preclinical Tests

“…[ 30 ] To better mimic in vivo tests and include the effects of thermal diffusion and heat exchange with the external environment, computational phantoms with realistic anatomical details are also employed, extending their volume to the tissues surrounding the diseased organ or to the entire body. [ 31–33 ] In some studies, the irregularities in the tumor shape are also included in the voxel discretization, via 3D reconstruction from in vivo measurements. [ 22,34 ]…”

“…In silico replication of in vivo tests mainly focuses on the role of the MNP concentration and deposition pattern, and of the tumor size, shape, position, and thermal properties, giving less attention to the role of the type of employed MNPs and their ability to release heat as a function of magnetic field peak amplitude and frequency. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] Moreover, to reduce computational complexity, most numerical models introduce simplifications on the body anatomy, which is often approximated as a domain composed of elementary regions, typically spherical, ellipsoidal, or cubic, where the inner one represents the tumor. [24][25][26][27][28][29] Further complexity is added, by considering a more realistic shape of the diseased organ, but describing the tumor as an internal sphere and avoiding the presence of surrounding healthy organs and tissues.…”

“…[30] To better mimic in vivo tests and include the effects of thermal diffusion and heat exchange with the external environment, computational phantoms with realistic anatomical details are also employed, extending their volume to the tissues surrounding the diseased organ or to the entire body. [31][32][33] In some studies, the irregularities in the tumor shape are also included in the voxel discretization, via 3D reconstruction from in vivo measurements. [22,34] In this framework, we present a physics-based modeling approach to evaluate the spatial distribution of the temperature increase induced by magnetic hyperthermia in tumor regions located in the body of two murine models (i.e., a 30 g mouse and a 500 g rat).…”