Computational Design of a Thermal Applicator for Brain Hyperthermia Controlled by Capacitor Positioning in Loop Coils

Hyperthermia is a treatment that applies heat to damage or kill cancer cells and can be also used for drug deliveries. It is important to apply the heat into the specific area in order to target the cancer tissue and avoid damaging healthy tissue. For this reason, the development of heat applicators that have the capability to deliver the heat to the target area is vital. In this study, we present an optimization of an array coil for brain hyperthermia that can be used in combination with MRI, such that the heat can be delivered to the cancer area.

The array coils were based on optimizing loop coils by varying the capacitor's position along the perimeter. The optimization was performed using electromagnetic simulations, by computing the electric field (E) and temperature inside of the brain and targeting tumor tissues for focus temperature application. The coils were compared with a general-use symmetric coil array for head heating.

The optimization of the coil array was able to focus electric field and make temperature rise at the cancer areas. The temperature in Tumor 1 before and after standard and the proposed method optimization was 43.6°C, 48.3°C, and 42.5°C and for Tumor 2 the temperatures were 44.2°C, 43.1°C, and 42.9°C, respectively. Although the standard optimization method exhibits higher temperatures, it also had higher temperatures outside the tumors area.

We demonstrated the optimization of array coils with different capacitor positions to obtain focused heating temperatures.