Numerical study of induction heating by micro / nano magnetic particles in hyperthermia

Hyperthermia is one of the first applications of nanotechnology in medicine by using micro/nano magnetic particles that act based on the heat of ferric oxide nanoparticles or quantum dots in an external alternating magnetic field. In this study, a two-dimensional model of body and tumor tissues embedded is considered. Initially, the temperature distribution is obtained with respect to tumor properties and without the presence of an electromagnetic field. Then, the effect of the electromagnetic field on the temperature distribution is studied. The results are compared with those of other papers. The results indicate that the use of the electromagnetic field causes a significant rise in the tumor temperature; however, the risk of damage to the healthy tissues surrounding the cancerous tissue seems to be high. Then, the micro/nanoparticles are injected into the tumor tissue to focus energy on cancerous tissue and maximally transfer the heat onto the tissue. The temperature distribution in the state is compared with the case with no nanoparticles and other numerical works. The results demonstrate that with the injection of nanoparticles into the tumor, the maximum temperature location is transferred to the center of the tumor and also increases to 6°C. After determining the temperature distribution in the presence of nanoparticles, the effects of different variables of the problem are studied. According to the obtained results, the increase in the concentration and radius of nanoparticles have a positive effect on the temperature distribution in the tissue; on the other hand, the increase in the frequency and size of the electrodes have a negative effect. The relevant equations are solved numerically using the finite difference method.