Optimization of chest wall hyperthermia treatment using a virtual human chest model

This work explores different coupling configurations (direct contact, air and water coupling) between a single 915 MHz waveguide applicator and human tissue in the setting of chest wall recurrence (CWR) of breast cancer. The objective is to treat chest wall tumours with microwave hyperthermia, while avoiding hot spots in critical areas such as scars and ribs. The best coupling configuration was a customized 24Ù29 cm water bolus developed by our team. It helps the applicator deliver an effective field size of 268 cm² at 1 cm depth and a penetration depth of 2-3 cm. Water bolus thickness can be adjusted during treatment (0.5-4 cm) to shift hot spot locations and thus homogenize thermal dose delivered over a 60 min hyperthermia treatment. The virtual human chest model is easily customized so it can be used as a tool for treatment planning and quality assurance testing of microwave applicator configurations.