Investigating the effect of magnetic field and nanoparticles characteristics in the treatment of glioblastoma by magnetic hyperthermia method: An in silico study

Abstract

This study investigated the use of magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) for treating glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly and treatment-resistant tumor. It considers the effects of magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) (different sizes and materials), alternating magnetic field (AMF) characteristics (frequency and strength magnetic field), MFH duration, and injection number, using a realistic brain phantom, considering its blood circulation system, tumor, and healthy tissue properties. Results demonstrated that MFH is more sensitive to frequency, increasing frequency causing greater temperature and thermoablation than increasing strength magnetic field. The magnetic field strength can be increased at a fixed frequency to control temperature increase in mild hyperthermia treatment more reliably. The size of MNP significantly impacts temperature when exceeding 15.8 nm, while smaller particles do not significantly affect the temperature obtained. Also, the tumor's MNP concentration increases and uniformly disperses as the number of injection sites increases. The study examined the duration of hyperthermia treatment (30–60 min), it is important to optimize the duration to prevent irreparable damage in cases of temperature increase from 46 °C. In conclusion, to effectively manage the temperature generated and destruction of malignant tissue while minimizing damage to healthy tissue, multiple hyperthermia-related parameters must be adjusted simultaneously.

Keywords

• Glioblastoma
• Magnetic fluid hyperthermia
• Magnetic nanoparticles
• Multiphysics simulation
• Temperature distribution