The potential of time-multiplexed steering in phased array microwave hyperthermia for head and neck cancer treatment.

The potential of time-multiplexed steering in phased array microwave hyperthermia for head and neck cancer treatment. Phys Med Biol. 2018 Jun 04;: Authors: Cappiello G, Drizdal T, McGinley B, O'Halloran M, Glavin M, van Rhoon GC, Jones E, Paulides MM Abstract Clinical studies have shown that hyperthermia sensitizes tumor cells for conventional therapies. During phased-array microwave hyperthermia, an array of antennas is used to focus the electromagnetic waves at the target region. Selective heating, while preserving the healthy tissue, is a demanding challenge and currently patient specific pre-treatment planning is used to optimize the amplitudes and phases of the waves. In addition, when needed, this single optimal heat distribution is adapted using the simulations based on the feedback from thermo-sensors and the patient. In this paper, we hypothesize that sequential, i.e. "time-multiplexed", application of multiple Pareto optimal heating patterns provides a better time-averaged treatment quality. To test the benefit of such a time-multiplexed approach, a multi-objective genetic algorithm was introduced to balance two objectives that both focus the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) delivered to the target region but differ in the suppressing of pre-defined hotspots. This step leads to two Pareto optimal distributions. These "diverse" antenna settings are then applied sequentially and thermal simulation are used to evaluate the effec...
Source: Physics in Medicine and Biology - Category: Physics Authors: Tags: Phys Med Biol Source Type: research