Prediction of temperature distribution for superficial hyperthermia treatment: Accuracy of temperature dependent blood perfusion model

During superficial hyperthermia treatment (SHT), temperature in region of interest is increased to 40-43°C, in order to enhance the therapeutic effect of standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments. Temperature increase during SHT is usually monitored using invasive thermometry which is burden for the patient. We strongly believe that superficial hyperthermia treatment planning has a potential replacing invasive thermometry system in clinical practice. In this study we have investigated accuracy of temperature prediction in SHT using temperature dependent blood perfusion model for muscle and fat. For 40 patients treated with recurrent breast cancer recurrences at the chest wall we compared 294 invasively measured and predicted temperature profiles. We found difference of 0.88±1.69° C (mean±standard deviation) with root mean square difference of 1.9°C.