Design and base validation of a small-animal hyperthermia applicator

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Physics
• Oncology Research

Background:

• Clinical hyperthermia devices like the BSD-500 are effective for cancer treatment.
• Adapting these devices for small animal models is crucial for pre-clinical research.
• A need exists for accessible and user-friendly small-animal hyperthermia applicators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and validate a small-animal microwave hyperthermia applicator.
• To adapt the clinically used BSD-500 hyperthermia device for use with mice.
• To establish a foundation for future in vivo experiments.

Main Methods:

• Iterative design and testing of a 3D-printable applicator.
• Utilized mouse cadavers and Sim4life simulation software for optimization.
• Characterized agarose phantom properties and employed independent 4-wire temperature sensors.

Main Results:

• Agarose phantom properties approximated muscle tissue (ϵr=51.91, σ=0.99 S/m).
• Independent sensors achieved 3Hz data collection with <0.01°C standard deviation.
• Therapeutic temperatures (40°C-43°C) were reached in tumor surrogates, with a therapeutic depth of 9.3-17.6mm.
• Simulations predicted heating accurately, with an estimated ~21% reduction in tumor heating in vivo due to perfusion.

Conclusions:

• The developed applicator is accessible and easy to use for small-animal studies.
• Base validation is complete, paving the way for in vivo experiments.
• This work bridges the gap towards effective small-animal hyperthermia research.