92C50 Medical applications (general)
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- hyperthermia (4)
- Robin boundary conditions (2)
- bio-heat equation (2)
- heat transfer (2)
- hyperthermia treatment planning (2)
- Homogenization (1)
- Hyperthermie-Therapieplanung (1)
- Identifizierung (1)
- Innere-Punkte-Methoden (1)
- MR thermometry (1)
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The paper surveys recent progress in a joint mathematical-medical project on cancer therapy planning. Within so-called regional hyperthermia the computational task is to tune a set of coupled radiofrequency antennas such that a carefully measured tumor is locally heated, but any outside hot spots are avoided. A mathematical model of the whole clinical system -- air, applicator with antennas, water bolus, individual patient body -- involves Maxwell's equations in inhomogeneous media and a parabolic bioheat transfer equation, which represents a simplified model of heat transfer in the human body (ignoring strong blood vessel heat transport). Both PDEs need to be computed fast and to medical reliability (!) on a workstation within a clinical environment. This requirement triggered a series of new algorithmic developments to be reported here, among which is an adaptive multilevel FEM for Maxwell's equations, which dominates the numerical simulation time. In total, however, the main bulk of computation time (see Table 3 in Section 4 below) still goes into segmentation -- a necessary preprocessing step in the construction a 3D virtual patient from the input of a stack of 2D computed tomograms (left out here).
In the clinical cancer therapy of regional hyperthermia nonlinear perfusion effects inside and outside the tumor seem to play a not negligible role. A stationary model of such effects leads to a nonlinear Helmholtz term within an elliptic boundary value problem. The present paper reports about the application of a recently designed adaptive multilevel FEM to this problem. For several 3D virtual patients, nonlinear versus linear model is studied. Moreover, the numerical efficiency of the new algorithm is compared with a former application of an adaptive FEM to the corresponding instationary model PDE.
Electromagnetic phased arrays for regional hyperthermia -- optimal frequency and antenna arrangement
(2000)
In this paper we investigate the effects of the three-dimensional arrangement of antennas and frequency on temperature distributions that can be achieved in regional hyperthermia using an electromagnetic phased array. We compare the results of power-based and temperature-based optimization. Thus we are able to explain the discrepancies between previous studies favouring more antenna rings on the one hand and more antennas per ring on the other hand. We analyze the sensitivity of the results with respect to changes in amplitudes and phases as well as patient position. This analysis can be used for different purposes. First, it provides additional criteria for selecting the optimal frequency. Second, it can be used for specifying the required phase and amplitude accuracy for a real phased array system. Furthermore, it may serve as a basis for technological developments in order to reduce both types of sensitivities described above.
Pyridinochelin, a novel catecholate type siderophore, has been designed on the basis of the active analog enterobactin. Growth promotion tests indicate that this synthetic siderophore feeds various pathogenic bacteria effectively with iron even though it lacks one catecholate group compared to enterobactin. The superposition of the siderophore structures suggests that the structure of the skeleton connecting the catecholate groups might be an important factor for the iron transport.
The bio-heat transfer equation is a macroscopic model for describing the heat transfer in microvascular tissue. In [{\sl Deuflhard, Hochmuth 2002}] the authors applied homogenization techniques to derive the bio-heat transfer equation as asymptotic result of boundary value problems which provide a microscopic description for microvascular tissue. Here those results are generalized to a geometrical setting where the regions of blood are allowed to be connected. Moreover, asymptotic corrector results are derived.
In [7,8,12] homogenization techniques are applied to derive an anisotropic variant of the bio-heat transfer equation as asymptotic result of boundary value problems providing a microscopic description for microvascular tissue. In view of a future application on treatment planning in hyperthermia, we investigate here the homogenization limit for a coupling model, which takes additionally into account the influence of convective heat transfer in medium size blood vessels. This leads to second order elliptic boundary value problems with nonlocal boundary conditions on parts of the boundary. Moreover, we present asymptotic estimates for first order correctors.
Die Autoren schreiben dieses Papier aus der eingeschränkten Sicht der Mathematik und der Informationstechnik. Um den speziellen Beitrag dieser Disziplinen überhaupt diskutieren zu können, sehen wir uns jedoch gezwungen, einen Rahmen abzustecken, den wir für das Jahr 2020 vorhersehen -- nach Wahrscheinlichkeit und aus unserem engeren fachlichen Blickwinkel. Vorab bitten wir schon einmal bei den medizinischen Fachleuten um Nachsicht, wenn wir uns in ihrem Revier allzu dillettantisch bewegen. Vielleicht fördert aber auch unser eingeschränkter Blickwinkel ansonsten unbedachte Aspekte zutage -- das hoffen wir zumindest.
This paper aims at presenting the complex coupled network of the human menstrual cycle to the interested community. Beyond the presently popular smaller models, where important network components arise only as extremely simplified source terms, we add: the GnRH pulse generator in the hypothalamus, receptor binding, and the biosynthesis in the ovaries. Simulation and parameter identification are left to a forthcoming paper.
Regional hyperthermia is a cancer therapy aiming at heating tumors using phased array applicators. This article provides an overview over current mathematical challenges of delivering individually optimal treatments. The focus is on therapy planning and identification of technical as well as physiological quantities from MR thermometry measurements.
We consider an optimal control problem from hyperthermia treatment planning and its barrier regularization. We derive basic results, which lay the groundwork for the computation of optimal solutions via an interior point path-following method. Further, we report on a numerical implementation of such a method and its performance at an example problem.