Theoretical evaluation of high frequency microwave ablation applied in cancer therapy

Microwave ablation (MWA) is a type of hyperthermia therapy to cancer disease area. Conventional MWA with electromagnetic frequency as 915 MHz and 2450 MHz have been widely used to clinical surgery. However, higher frequency sources for Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) bands have been available for tumor detection. In this paper, we evaluated the effect of high frequency microwave (6 GHz and 18 GHz) applied to liver cancer therapy against conventional microwave (915 MHz, 2450 MHz) by a finite element model coupled electromagnetic field and bio-heat transfer equation. Tissue damaged region, temperature rise and distribution characteristics were analyzed in the biological tissue consists of liver and tumor tissue that may represent a realistic situation of cancer treatment. The results show that high frequency MWA can cause less collateral damage, more concentrated ablation region and better material response than conventional MWA. The investigation indicates that high frequency microwave can be applied to cancer therapy.