Numerical modeling of skin tumors subjected to gold nanoparticle assisted laser-induced thermal therapy

Gold nanoparticle (GNP) laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT) for cancer tumor treatment, is a promising therapeutic procedure. It combines the laser deep penetration when operating in near-infrared band and the contrast agent high absorption at the considered wavelengths. Nevertheless, the treatment success is highly sensitive to the nanoparticles spatial/temporal distribution. Therefore, in this work we investigate the LITT effectiveness under conditions of non-uniform GNPs arrangement. In particular, the impact of gold nanoparticles diffusion mass transfer for different waiting periods between the GNPs injection and the treatment start was assessed. Moreover, the inoculated contrast agent concentration effect on the thermal therapy was also evaluated. Therefore, a numerical solver relying on foam-extend v.5.0 library was developed for modeling: (i) realistic intra-tumor injection. (ii) GNPs diffusion in the target area. (iii) thermal effects on skin tumors by means of LITT. It was found that a waiting period of about 24 h between the contrast agent inoculation and the treatment start is recommended. Lastly, injected GNPs concentration has to be also accurately calibrated to guarantee LITT success.