Direct use of CT scans for hyperthermia treatment planning

In the field of deep regional hyperthermia cancer therapy, patient-specific, three-dimensional computer modeling for treatment planning in the BSD-2000 hyperthermia system is addressed. Two persistent problems have been the large amount of time needed to create the patient model from a computed tomography (CT) scan (one and a half days), and the lack of a way to view the large amounts of data that comprise the output of a treatment plan, i.e. the specific absorption rate (SAR) at 20000 to 30000 cells. A method that obtains the dielectric properties needed for hyperthermia treatment planning directly from the CT image with minimum operator interaction is presented. Comparison is made with the previous method of drawing contours around the different tissue types. A method which displays the output as iso-SAR contours directly over the CT scan of the patient is described.