Cancer cells can be easily killed when they reach a temperature above 40 degrees. This is known as hyperthermia and the incorporation of nanoparticles (NPs) is helpful to locally rise the temperature. The local heating of NPs could also be used to deliver drugs encapsulated in a specific location inside a body. To achieve the local heating it is necessary to know the temperature profile of the NPs when excited by laser radiation. The COMSOL software was used to simulate the temperature pro le of the NPs in an aqueous solution (the cells are mainly composed of water). An analysis is made regarding the temperature rise for different irradiation parameters, NPs concentration and the corresponding potential of locally affecting cancerous cells without significantly affecting adjacent healthy cells.

Date Published: 22 August 2014
PDF: 5 pages
Proc. SPIE 9286, Second International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics, 92862E (22 August 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2063838

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9286:
Second International Conference on Applications of Optics and Photonics
Manuel Filipe P. C. Martins Costa; Rogério Nunes Nogueira, Editor(s)