Necrosis evolution during high-temperature hyperthermia through implanted heat sources

A nonstationary model for high-temperature hyperthermic treatments is developed. The aim of this model is to describe the thermal propagation within a living tissue and to quantify its clinical effects as it regards the physiological status (necrosis) of a neoplastic body. Particular attention is turned to the description of the necrotic transition induced by heating. This leads to the introduction of a necrosis field and to an effective-medium approximation for the corresponding physiological status (vascularization, necrosis, etc.) of the exposed tissue. The resulting nonlinear, nonstationary model is applied to a multilayered spherical structure with a temperature-regulated implant, and to a clinical case of a solid liver tumor. Clinical data on the spatial extent of the necrotized region are in good agreement with model predictions.