Hyperthermia applications at microwave frequencies

Publication date: January 2015 Source:New Horizons in Translational Medicine, Volume 2, Issue 2 Author(s): Jan Vrba Short introduction to microwave hyperthermia from the point of view of biology and physics will be given firstly. The physical basis of microwave thermotherapy for cancer treatment and for other medical microwave therapeutic purposes (e.g. in cardiology, urology, surgery, physiotherapy, etc.) will be described in this talk. Different kinds of hyperthermia clinical applications will be mentioned (i.e. local, deep local, regional and intracavitary treatment). Different physical and technological approach to describe these above given different cases will be discussed. For each of these mentioned cases a different type of electromagnetic (EM) wave should be used: EM plane wave for local treatment, converging cylindrical EM wave for regional treatment and finally diverging cylindrical EM wave for intracavitary treatment. Then different types of applicators (resp. antennas) for microwave hyperthermia clinical applications will be discussed (e.g. waveguide, waveguide horn, evanescent mode, planar, array, lens, metamaterial etc. applicators). Each of these microwave technologies has its specific advantages in creation of the optimal SAR and temperature distribution in the area to be treated. It is given by its specific EM field distribution in the aperture of these applicators. And the importance of the so called treatment planning will be discussed. It is based o...
Source: New Horizons in Translational Medicine - Category: Research Source Type: research