K. Saito et al., Estimation of SAR distribution of a tip-split array applicator for microwave coagulation therapy using the finite element method, IEICE TR EL, E84C(7), 2001, pp. 948-954
The microwave coagulation therapy has been used mainly for the treatment of
hepatocellular carcinoma (small size tumor in the liver). In the treatment
, a thin microwave antenna is inserted into the tumor, and the microwave e
energy heats up the turner to produce the coagulated region including the c
ancer cells. At present, a problem occurs: the size of the coagulated regio
n is insufficient, especially in the perpendicular direction of the antenna
axis. In order to overcome this problem without increasing the physical lo
ad of the patient, tile authors introduced a new type of array applicator c
omposed of two coaxial-slot antennas. However, we cannot estimate heating c
haracteristics of this array applicator precisely by using the FDTD calcula
tion, because the use of staircasing approximation, which employs rectangul
ar parallelepiped cells, is unsuitable for the analysis. Therefore, in this
paper, we introduce the finite element method (FER I), which employs tetra
hedral cells, to estimate tile heating: characteristics of the array applic
ator.