Thermotherapy with Metallic Stent Excited by The Magnetic Field

摘要

Recently, early cancer detection is made possible with latest technologies such as CT, MRI, and so on. In the case of bile duct cancers, however, it is often advanced stage when cancers are detected because the symptom does not often appear at the early stage and projecting the cancer is difficult by the latest imaging technology. To treat cases like this, metallic stents have come to be used to support the lumens. So far stents have been used for life extension rather than for radical treatment. We propose the stents that function as thermotherapy for cancer besides its original efficacy. Thermotherapy is the method of treating cancer by the use of heat, and it is generally well known that at the temperature of 42.5°C or more, the survival rate of tumor tissue decreases rapidly, while normal cells can survive up to 44°C. If we take advantage of this 1.5 degree temperature difference, the necrosing of the tumor tissue is expected to be much more effective. We explicated that the stents can potentially be used as a heat source of thermotherapy by the external excitation. It is confirmed that eddy current loss causes heat of stents, We. It is shown in following equation.