evaluation of thermal properties of ferromagnetic core for treatment of solid tumors by electromagnetic induction hyperthermia

Background: electromagnetic induction hyperthermia is a promising method to treat the deep-seated tumors such as brain and prostatic tumors. this technique is performed using the induction of electromagnetic waves in the ferromagnetic cores implanted at the solid tumor.objective: this study aims at determining the conditions of the optimal thermal distribution in the different frequencies before performing the in vitro cellular study.material and methods: in this experimental study, the i-cu alloy (70.4-29.6; wt%) was prepared and characterized and then the parameters, affecting the amount of induction heating in the ferromagnetic core, were investigated. self-regulating cores in 1, 3, 6, and 9 arrangements in the water phantom with a volume of 2 cm3 were used as a replacement for solid tumor.results: inductively coupled plasma (icp) analysis and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (eds) show the uniformity of the alloy after 4 times remeling by vacuum arc remelting furnace. the vibrating sample magnetometer (vsm) shows that the curie temperature (tc) of the ferromagnetic core is less than 50 °c. temperature profile with a frequency of 100-400 khz for 30 min, was extracted by infrared imaging camera, indicating the increase temperature in the range of 42 °c to 46 °c. conclusion: the optimum conditions with used hyperthermia system are supplied in the frequency of 100 khz, 200 khz and 400 khz with 6, 3 and 1 seeds, respectively. it is also possible to induce a temperature up to 50 °c by increasing the number of seeds at a constant frequency and power, or by increasing the applied frequency at a constant number of seeds.