A model of thermotherapy treatment for bladder cancer

Math Biosci Eng. 2016 Dec 1;13(6):1169-1183. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2016037.

Abstract

In this work, we investigate chemo- thermotherapy, a recently clinically-approved post-surgery treatment of non muscle invasive urothelial bladder carcinoma. We developed a mathematical model and numerically simulated the physical processes related to this treatment. The model is based on the conductive Maxwell's equations used to simulate the therapy administration and Convection-Diffusion equation for incompressible fluid to study heat propagation through the bladder tissue. The model parameters correspond to the data provided by the thermotherapy device manufacturer. We base our computational domain on a CT image of a human bladder. Our numerical simulations can be applied to further research on the effects of chemo- thermotherapy on bladder and surrounding tissues and for treatment personalization in order to maximize the effect of the therapy while avoiding burning of the bladder.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Humans
  • Hyperthermia, Induced
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / therapy*