Mathematical Modeling of the Effects of Liver Tumor Ablation on Temperature, Blood Flow, and Oxygen Transport

Radiofrequency ablation is typically used to heat up malignant liver tissue to critical temperatures in order to kill cancerous cells. However, this hyperthermic process also has noticeable effects on the microvasculature of tumor tissue (i.e. capillary blood vessels). Specifically, it has been empirically shown that heating up cancerous tissue also affects blood flow and oxygen transport. Mathematical modeling is a powerful tool to analyze and control blood flow and oxygenation as a function of transient temperature rise within tissue. Therefore, in this study, a mathematical model was developed via COMSOL Multiphysics to describe the effects of radiofrequency ablation on blood flow and oxygen transport within tumor tissue. It was determined that the application of radiofrequency ablation on cancerous liver tissue for 60 seconds increases the average temperature of the tumor tissue from 37◦C to 43◦C. The hyperthermic effects of radiofrequency ablation subsequently resulted in an increase of capillary blood vessel radius by 30%, an increase in blood flow velocity by 70%, and an increase in overall oxygenation. This study shows that radiofrequency ablation can potentially be coupled with chemotherapy to enhance the efficacy of delivering pharmacological agents.