Penetration of a focused electromagnetic pulse into a biological material and its application to hyperthermia

Abstract

A localized temperature distribution inside a biological material (human muscle) is obtained through the use of a parabolic reflector to focus an electromagnetic pulse. With the point-matched time-domain finite-element method, the focused field and its penetration into the biological material are found, then the temperature profile in the material is calculated. The temperature is localized so that it can heat a specific spot without overburning the surrounding tissue. Attention is given to the factors which influence the localization characteristics, including the applied frequency, the associated electric parameters of the biological material, and the size of the parabolic reflector. The penetration depth and localization volume can be controlled by the adjustment of the applied frequency and the parameters of the reflector.<>