Design and Characterization of an RF Applicator for In Vitro Tests of Electromagnetic Hyperthermia

Riccardo Ferrero*, Ioannis Androulakis, Luca Martino, Robin Nadar, Gerard C. van Rhoon, Alessandra Manzin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
63 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The evaluation of the biological effects of therapeutic hyperthermia in oncology and the precise quantification of thermal dose, when heating is coupled with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, are active fields of research. The reliable measurement of hyperthermia effects on cells and tissues requires a strong control of the delivered power and of the induced temperature rise. To this aim, we have developed a radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic applicator operating at 434 MHz, specifically engineered for in vitro tests on 3D cell cultures. The applicator has been designed with the aid of an extensive modelling analysis, which combines electromagnetic and thermal simulations. The heating performance of the built prototype has been validated by means of temperature measurements carried out on tissue-mimicking phantoms and aimed at monitoring both spatial and temporal temperature variations. The experimental results demonstrate the capability of the RF applicator to produce a well-focused heating, with the possibility of modulating the duration of the heating transient and controlling the temperature rise in a specific target region, by simply tuning the effectively supplied power.

Original languageEnglish
Article number3610
Number of pages16
JournalSensors
Volume22
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • coaxial cable
  • electromagnetic hyperthermia
  • electromagnetic modelling
  • phantoms
  • RF applicator
  • TEM mode
  • temperature measurements
  • thermal modelling
  • thermal therapies

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