Numerical Simulation of the Heat Transfer in the Cryoprobe of an Innovative Apparatus for Cryosurgery

This study preliminarily examines the technical feasibility of the cryoablation with this machine focusing the attention on the cryoprobe design. Cryoprobe geometry and materials are assessed and the related heat transfer taking place during the cryoablation process is simulated with the aid of the computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS®Fluent. Parametric analyses are carried out varying the length of the collecting tubes and the inlet velocity of the cold carrier fluid in the cryoprobe. The values obtained for physical quantities such as the temperature reached in the treated tissue, the width of the obtained cold front, and the maximum pressure required for the cold carrier fluid are calculated and discussed in order to prove the effectiveness of the experimental apparatus and develop the machine further.
Source: Journal of Biomechanical Engineering - Category: Biomedical Engineering Source Type: research