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Feasibility of selective nanoparticle-assisted photothermal treatment for an embedded liver tumor

Lasers in Medical Science volume 28, pages 1159–1168 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Using the finite volume method, the present work numerically explored the feasibility of extending nanoparticle-assisted photothermal therapy (PPTT) from treating subcutaneous tumors to treating organ tumors, particularly tumors growing in the clearance organ liver. To serve this purpose, a superficially embedded liver tumor and its immediate surrounding medium were selected as the study object. A 633-nm laser beam of 1- W/cm2 intensity externally irradiated the tumor. The matching gold–silica nanoshell with a 16-nm silica core and a 5-nm-thick gold shell was used as the photothermal agent. The nanoshell retention ratio was varied to simulate different levels of nanoshell tumor discriminations. Laser light distributions, conversions from photon energy to heat, and tissues’ thermal responses to the generated heat within the study object were analyzed. It was found that although nanoshells have enhanced the thermal transportation, they also restricted the optical transportation of PPTT. This indicates that laser delivery is more demanding for PPTT than for the conventional laser therapy. For the investigated case, when the nanoshell retention ratio was in the range of 2/1–4/1, the therapeutic effects were optimal: a confined medium temperature hyperthermia (47–55 °C) was achieved in the liver tumor while impacts on the surrounding health liver tissues were only marginal. When then nanoshell retention ratio was 8/1 or higher, about half of the liver tumor was ablated. However, some of the surrounding healthy liver tissues were sacrificed as well. The therapeutic effects of PPTT depend nonlinearly on the nanoshell tumor discriminations. Better tumor discriminations do not necessarily result in better PPTT therapeutic effects.

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Abbreviations

C abs :

The absorption cross-section

C sca :

The scattering cross-section

L c :

The remnant of collimation

L d :

The diffusion radiant intensity

N T :

The number of nanoparticles per unit volume

Q abs :

The absorption efficiency of nanoparticles

Q sca :

The scattering efficiency of nanoparticles

R sp :

The Fresnel specular reflection

R d :

The local internal reflectivity

S c :

The source term induced by collimation

T :

The temperature

T Arterial :

The temperature of the environment

k α :

The overall absorption coefficient

k t :

The absorption coefficient of the tissue

k np :

The absorption coefficient of nanoparticles

c :

The specific heat of tissue

h :

The convection coefficient

r 0 :

The core radius of the nanoshell

t :

The time

v B :

The blood perfusion rate

x :

A size parameter

z :

The penetration distance of laser lights

r :

The position vector

s :

The direction vector

n :

The normal vector

λ:

The wavelength of the laser

δ :

The possible optical depth of laser lights within a medium

Ψ:

The fluence rate

ω’:

The solid angle

Φ:

The phase function

σ s :

The overall scattering coefficient

σ t :

The scattering coefficient of tissue

σ np :

The scattering coefficient of nanoparticles

φ0 :

The collimation

ρ :

The density of tissues

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Acknowledgments

This work is made possible in part through a support from the John & Ann Doerr Fund for Computational Biomedicine.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX, MS 321, PO Box 1892, 77005–1892, USA

    Xiao Xu, Andrew Meade & Yildiz Bayazitoglu

Authors
  1. Xiao Xu
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  2. Andrew Meade
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  3. Yildiz Bayazitoglu
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Correspondence to Yildiz Bayazitoglu.

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Xu, X., Meade, A. & Bayazitoglu, Y. Feasibility of selective nanoparticle-assisted photothermal treatment for an embedded liver tumor. Lasers Med Sci 28, 1159–1168 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-012-1195-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-012-1195-z

Keywords

  • Photothermal
  • Selective
  • Nanoparticle
  • Tumor
  • Targeting