Thermo-Electrical Field Analysis for the Treatment of Tumors in the Liver Using Low-Frequency Joule Heating

Abstract

Haritha Reddy Gouru and Pradip Majumdar

Hepatic tumors occur in liver tissue due to the growth of malignant cells. Low-frequency Joule heating (LFJH) is one of the cancer treatment methods that show tremendous potential to treat hepatic cancer without causing excessive side effects or patient discomfort as other cancer treatments such as chemotherapy. In this localized thermal treatment method, the tumor in liver tissue is heated to a critical temperature range using radiofrequency (RF) energy designed to damage malignant cells. An electrode is introduced over the tumor and electric current is passed through it to induce Joule heating. The volume heat generation due to the Joule heating raises local temperature in tumor cells and causes complete destruction or damage. In this study, a computational simulation model is created based on coupled solution of bio heat equation and electrical field equation and considering a composite region of malignant tumor embedded in liver tissue region. The electrical and thermal fields that can cause damage to the malignant cells without affecting the surrounding tissue are determined and optimized by changing various controlling parameters such as electrode design, frequency, and amplitude of the RF energy.

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