Investigation of Hyperthermia for Non-Newtonian Fluid inside an Imitation Circular Vein

Abstract

Hyperthermia is an overheating phenomenon that the body temperature of an individual is beyond the normal value. This phenomenon has been related to cancer treatment since the early 1970s. Researchers reviewed hyperthermia and cancer treatment in a comprehensive way. It was mentioned when the temperature of a cell or mass is elevated to 43 ℃, i.e., about 6 degrees above body temperature, destruction of the mass can be observed. However, a decade ago, an experiment of this kind was challenging to conduct due to the lack of information about biomaterial and small heat sources. Advancements in manufacturing technologies and robotics enable thermal engineering researchers to conduct hyperthermia experiments using imitation veins, artificial blood, and microrobots with traveling and heating functions. This study attempted to determine the magnitude of the heat source required to achieve hyperthermia and the section that hyperthermia covered. An imitation vein, with an inner diameter of 2 mm and a length of6 cm, was used as the test section. Non-Newtonian artificial blood was adopted as the test fluid. A blood circulation system with a pulsation flow rate of 5 cm/s was built, and the entrance temperature of the test section was kept at 37 ℃. A small-scale resistance heat source was placed inside the artificial vein to enhance the inner wall temperature of the affected section. Different heating inputs were used, and it was found that hyperthermia was observed when the heat input was in the vicinity of 0.22 W. The section covered by hyperthermia was around 1 cm in length. The research results of this study will provide important information to researchers in robotics to achieve the required heat generation capability.