DEEP HEATING USING A MOVABLE APPLICATOR PHASED-ARRAY HYPERTHERMIA SYSTEM - A PRECLINICAL FEASIBILITY STUDY

A preclinical evaluation of the 'movable applicator phased array hyper thermia system' was performed. The system employs four coherent applic ators enabling power steering by amplitude and phase control. This con cept has already been used in other systems, but the combination with a compact applicator design and easy movement of applicators has not b een used before. The paper contains a description of the system and a verification of its performance using quality assurance tests,vith sca nned E-field measurements. A clinical simulation was performed in pig to address the clinical feasibility of the system. The target volume w as the left kidney. Two heating sessions, with and without occluded bl ood-flow to the kidney, were performed. In the low-flow experiments a temperature of 48 degrees C and 46 degrees C was obtained in the upper and lower pole of the kidney respectively. For the high-flow experime nt the temperature in the upper pole was 48 degrees C.