Heating properties of resonant cavity applicator for treating rheumatoid arthritis by using 3-D FEM knee model

This paper describes the heating properties of the resonant cavity applicator with the developed three-dimensional (3-D) anatomical human knee model using the finite element method (FEM). We proposed a new heating method for rheumatism rehabilitation. In this method, a human knee is placed in the gap between two inner electrodes and is non-invasively heated with electromagnetic fields stimulated inside the cavity. First, a method of reconstructing a three-dimensional (3-D) anatomical human knee model from two-dimensional (2-D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray computerized tomography (CT) images was described. Second, the results of the specific absorption rate (SAR) distributions of this heating system with the developed 3-D anatomical human knee model were presented. Third, the results of specific absorption rate (SAR) were discussed. From these results, it was found that our method is useful for heating deep places in the knee joint.