Status and future developments in the physical aspects of hyperthermia

The state of hyperthermia physics is reviewed. Major changes affecting the field are: (a) it is becoming far more sophisticated than just a few years ago, now that experts from many engineering and physical specialties are involved; (b) the ubiquitous computer is central to developments in data acquisition and analysis, treatment control, device comparison, treatment planning, and thermal dosimetry; and (c) entrepreneurial firms are arising to produce clinically engineered equipment. University and other research centers can concentrate their efforts on investigating new technologies up to the development of physical prototypes; they need no longer spend time on constructing complete clinical systems. At present, regional heating systems are unable to reliably induce therapeutic temperatures throughout the entire tumor volume. Interstitial techniques are able to accomplish this and so may make the greatest clinical impact in the near future. Invasive thermometry coupled with computerized data acquisition systems and numerical models appears to be a very promising approach to detailed thermal dosimetry. The tools for performing good clinical trials of hyperthermia are gradually becoming available.