Uniform regional heating of the lower trunk: numerical evaluation of tumor temperature distributions

The temperature distributions in deep seated tumors resulting from uniform heating of the abdominal and pelvic regions of the trunk are predicted from a one dimensional numerical solution of the bio-heat transfer equation. The effect of tumor size and location are investigated for two tumor perfusion models: uniform perfusion and a concentric annulus perfusion model. Tumor temperature distributions are considered acceptable if the range of temperatures in the tumor lie between 42 degrees C and 60 degrees C. This range of tumor temperatures is defined as Tave +/- 2 sigma where sigma is the population standard deviation of tumor temperatures from the average computed at the nodal points in the finite difference array. To simulate practical clinical restrictions, muscle and fat temperatures are not allowed to exceed 44 degrees C, significant portions of the viscera are not allowed to exceed 42 degrees C, and the total absorbed power required to maintain steady state cannot exceed two kilowatts. Over 100 possible cases are presented in a compact form. From this study it appears that heating systems with power deposition patterns approximately uniform are promising for heating deep-seated tumors. Small, detectable tumors (approximately 2 cm in size) are adequately heated for a wider range of conditions than are larger tumors. Excessively high temperatures in deep-seated, normal tissue could be a significant limitation for this technique.