3D Numerical Analysis of Focused Microwave Ablation for the Treatment of Patients with Localized Liver Cancer embedded with a Vertical and Horizontal Blood Vessel

Abstract

Microwave ablation (MWA) is the minimally invasive treatment technique. In this treatment, the microwave energy is transmitted by the microwave antenna into the un-wanted tissue (tumor). The microwave energy would be absorbed and converted to volumetric heat generated in tissue. The achievement of MWA is related to the temperature distribution in the treatment area. Tumors are usually located near the large blood vessels, and the heat convection by blood flow may affect the heat transfer in the treatment area. The modeling for heat transport in the biological tissue was applied in the therapeutics application to prevent injury and analyze the treatment process effectiveness. The present study presents the three-dimensional (3D) heat transfer in the liver cancer embedded with a single blood vessel during the MWA treatment model. The characteristic of a single vessel located between the horizontal vessel and vertical vessel was investigated on the SAR, temperature, and damaged tissue distribution. The mathematical model is considered, coupled with electromagnetic wave propagation, heat transfer, and blood flow in a large vessel analysis. The coupled nonlinear set of these equations is solved using the 3D finite element method (FEM). The results demonstrate the temperature distribution at the tumor boundary of the model embedded with a horizontal vessel was higher than the model embedded with a vertical vessel. The simulation results show the asymmetry of the temperature distribution, which emphasizes the necessity of 3D assumption. The value of investigated provided an indication of limitations that must be considered in administering microwave ablation therapy.