Fundamental Study on Localized Heating in Hyperthermia Using Phase Control of Long-wavelength Microwaves

For the treatment of cancer using hyperthermia, high frequency electromagnetic fields are used to heat the cancer cells. These electromagnetic fields fall into two general frequency ranges, one relatively low, and the other in the microwave range. Both produce some side effects such as the heating of healthy cells or the impact on the body of invasive surgery required to expose deep-lying cells. To reduce these side reactions, the use of lower microwave frequencies with phase control was proposed. In this paper, we present a very basic study to prove the viability of the proposed scheme. This includes the selection of a suitable frequency, demonstration of localized heating using the selected frequency, and a three-dimensional numerical analysis of the electromagnetic fields involved. In the heating demonstration, a tissue-equivalent phantom made from agar was irradiated by phase-controlled electromagnetic waves from a pair of circular patch antennas operating at 430MHz. This produced localized heating. The numerical analysis produced a field distribution that corresponded closely to the results from the heating experiment. It confirmed that the phase control technique for long-wavelength microwaves was effective in producing localized heating.