Microwave Cavity with Controllable Temperature for In Vitro Hyperthermia Investigations

Hyperthermia is a form of cancer treatment in which affected human tissue is exposed to >40°C temperature. In this paper, our goal is to assess the efficacy of fullerene agents to reduce heating time for cancer treatment. Such agents can accelerate heating of cancer cells and improve hyperthermia treatment efficacy. Typically, in vitro testing involves cancer cell culturing, heating cell cultures in accordance to specifications, and recording cancer cell viability after hyperthermia. To heat cell cultures, we design and evaluate a 2.4-GHz microwave cavity with controllable temperature. The cavity is comprised of a polystyrene cell culture dish (diameter = 54 mm, height = 13.5 mm) and a printed monopole antenna placed within the cavity for microwave heating. The culture temperature can be controlled through the intensity and duration of the antenna’s microwave radiation. Heating experiments were carried out to validate the cavity’s performance for F-12K culture medium (Kaighn’s F-12K medium, ATCC). Importantly, fullerene agents were shown to reduce heating time and improve hyperthermia treatment efficacy. The culture medium temperature increased, on average, from 24.0°C to 50.9°C (without fullerene) and from 24.0°C to 56.8°C (with 3 mg/mL fullerene) within 15 minutes.