Estimation of state variables in the hyperthermia therapy of cancer with heating imposed by radiofrequency electromagnetic waves

LEONARDO ANTONIO BERMEO VARÓN; HELCIO RANGEL BARRETO ORLANDE; G.E. ELICABE

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCES

ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER

Lugar: Paris; Año: 2015 vol. 98 p. 228 - 236

1290-0729

One of the major difficulties in any cancer treatment is to kill the cells of the tumor without affectinghealthy cells. Recently, with the advancement of nanotechnology, the localized hyperthermia treatmentof cancer has again gained interest from the scientific community. In this technique, the application ofelectromagnetic waves, possibly even over the surface of the patient´s body, causes temperature increasesin the tissues. By concentrating nanoparticles in the tumorous tissues, cell damages can beinflicted mostly to the region of interest. This paper deals with numerical simulations under uncertaintiesof the treatment of cancer based on hyperthermia induced by radiofrequency electromagneticwaves, where the tumor is supposed to be loaded with nanoparticles. The focus of the paper is on thesolution of the inverse problem dealing with the estimation of state variables, like the temperaturedistribution in the tissues. The state estimation problem is solved with the Particle Filter, by utilizing theSampling Importance Resampling (SIR) algorithm. An excellent agreement between estimated and exacttemperatures is obtained, which may help medical doctors in the future to prescribe treatment protocolsand also opens the possibility of devising control strategies for the hyperthermia treatment of cancer.