Airflow effect on microwave ablation in lung model

Abstract

© 2015 IEEE. Pulmonary microwave ablation has been trailed and became dramatically recognized as an alternative surgical method for lung cancer treatment due to its minimal invasive technique and destroyable only a small part of malignant tissue. Even though, lung is realized as a porous tissue in which filled of humid air and a capillary network that rather difficult to control an ablation region, then a prediction of lung destructive region by using MWA simulation seem to be a reliable investigation and numerical tool for supporting this medical maneuver. In this paper, we propose a simulation of microwave thermal ablation for lung cancer treatment in a simple lung model. Microwave applicator was designed as an opened-tip coaxial antenna of 2.45 GHz at 10 Watts. To study an effect of air flow in pulmonary bronchus, a small tube with air flow was also placed close to the microwave applicator then a temperature distribution and coagulation volume at 60 °c were analyzed. The in silico results show a predictable ablation shape which affected by a convection heat transfer of a humid air. However, before a real ablation with swine tissue, an amount of pulmonary blood flow in small blood vessel should be also included in the next investigation inorder to obtain more reasonable results.