On the preliminary design of hyperthermia treatments based on infusion and heating of magnetic nanofluids

• Analytical expressions describing both nanofluids infusion and thermal activation.
• Analytical solution that elucidates the role of the hyperthermia control parameters.
• Simplified working charts for the preliminary design of hyperthermia treatments.

We study a magnetic-nanoparticle-mediated hyperthermia treatment by considering both the nanofluid infusion and the subsequent thermal activation of the infused nanoparticles. Our study aims at providing a quantitative framework, which is currently missing, for the design of hyperthermia treatments. In more detail, we consider a heterogeneous spherical tumor, and we obtain a simplified analytical expression for the nanoparticles concentration profile during the infusion. We then exploit such an expression in order to compute the steady-state temperature profile achieved through the heating step. Despite the simplifications introduced to enable the analytical derivations, we account for many physically relevant aspects including tissue heterogeneity, poroelasticity, blood perfusion, and nanoparticles absorption onto tissue. Moreover, our approach permits to elucidate the effects on the final temperature profile of the following control parameters: infusion duration and flow rate, nanoparticles concentration in the nanofluid, magnetic field intensity and frequency. We present illustrative numerical results, based on parameters values taken from experimental studies, which are consistent with previous numerical investigations and current hyperthermia approaches. In particular, we obtain optimal working curves which could be effectively used for planning real procedures. While not laying any claims of generality, this work takes a preliminary yet quantitative step toward the design of hyperthermia treatments.