Numerical Simulation of Enhanced Skin Thermal Signature of Female Breast Tumor Subjected to Forced Convection

Author(s):  
A. Gupta ◽  
L. Hu ◽  
J. P. Gore ◽  
L. X. Xu

Early detection is considered to be the best defense against breast cancer and imaging plays a very important role in screening and in the diagnosis of symptomatic women. Infrared thermal imaging of skin temperature changes caused by a malignant tumor in breast is a rapidly developing detection modality with potential for functional detection. Knowledge and control of environmental factors which affect the skin temperature can reduce misinterpretations and false diagnosis associated with infrared imaging. A bio heat transfer based numerical model was utilized to study the energy balance in healthy and malignant breasts subjected to low velocity forced convection in a wind tunnel. Existing estimates of metabolic heating rates and previous measurements of temperature distributions along the radial direction in a region intersecting a known tumor and a comparable region in the healthy breast of the same patient were used to estimate the blood perfusion rates for the tumor. A simplified structural and thermal model was used for representing the changes within and around the tumor. Steady state temperature distributions on the skin surface of the breasts were obtained by numerically solving the conjugate heat transfer problem. Parametric studies on the influences of the airflow on the skin thermal expression of tumors were performed. It was found that the presence of tumor may not be clearly shown due to the irregularity of the skin temperature distribution induced by the flow field. Image processing techniques could be employed to eliminate the effects of the flow field and thermal noise and significantly improve the thermal signature of the tumor on the skin surface.

2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Hu ◽  
Ashish Gupta ◽  
Jay P. Gore ◽  
Lisa X. Xu

A bioheat-transfer-based numerical model was utilized to study the energy balance in healthy and malignant breasts subjected to forced convection in a wind tunnel. Steady-state temperature distributions on the skin surface of the breasts were obtained by numerically solving the conjugate heat transfer problem. Parametric studies on the influences of the airflow on the skin thermal expression of tumors were performed. It was found that the presence of tumor may not be clearly shown due to the irregularities of the skin temperature distribution induced by the airflow field. Nevertheless, image subtraction techniques could be employed to eliminate the effects of the flow field and thermal noise and significantly improve the thermal signature of the tumor on the skin surface. Inclusion of the possible skin vascular response to cold stress caused by the airflow further enhances the signal, especially for deeply embedded tumors that otherwise may not be detectable.


1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Kleinman ◽  
R. B. Roemer

A new technique for solving the combined state and parameter estimation problem in thermographic tomography is presented. The technique involves the direct substitution of known skin temperatures into the finite difference form of the bio-heat transfer equation as formulated for solving an initial value problem with a convection boundary condition at the skin surface. These equations are then used to solve the inverse bio-heat transfer problem for the unknown subcutaneous tissue temperatures and physiological parameters. For a small number of nodal points, closed form algebraic solutions are obtained. For larger sets of equations, a hybrid technique is used in which the problem is initially posed as an unconstrained optimization problem in which the model equation error is minimized using the conjugate gradient descent technique to get close to a solution. Then a generalized Newton-Raphson technique was used to solve the equations. A numerical simulation of a one-dimensional problem is investigated both with and without noise superimposed on the input (transient) skin temperature data. The results show that the technique gives very accurate results if the skin temperature data contains little noise. It is also shown that if the physical properties of the tissue and the metabolism are known, that a given set of proper transient skin temperature inputs yields a unique solution for the unknown internal temperatures and blood perfusion rates. However, the similar problem with known blood perfusion rates and unknown metabolisms does not yield a unique solution for the internal temperatures and metabolisms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2090 (1) ◽  
pp. 012150
Author(s):  
de Oliveira Eduardo Peixoto ◽  
Gilmar Guimaräes

Abstract An analytical method using Green’s Functions for obtaining solutions in bio-heat transfer problems, modeled by Pennes’ Equation, is presented. Mathematical background on how treating Pennes’ equation and its μ2T term is shown, and two contributions to the classical numbering system in heat conduction are proposed: inclusion of terms to specify the presence of the fin term, μ2T, and identify the biological heat transfer problem. The presentation of the solution is made for a general multi-layer domain, deriving and showing general approaches and Green’s Functions for such n number of layers. Numerical examples are presented to simplify human skin as a two-layer domain: dermis and epidermis, accounting metabolism as a heat source, and blood perfusion only at the dermis. Time-independent summations in the series-solution are written in closed forms, leading to better convergence along the boundaries. Details on obtaining the two-layer solution and its eigenvalues are presented for boundary conditions of prescribed temperature inside the body and convection at the surface, such as its intrinsic verification.


2020 ◽  
pp. 96-96
Author(s):  
Abchouyeh Asadi ◽  
Ganaoui El ◽  
Rasul Mohebbi ◽  
Mohammad Zarrabi ◽  
Omid Fard ◽  
...  

In this study, the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is employed in order to examine the fluid flow and forced convection heat transfer inside a two-dimensional horizontal channel with and without obstacles. In order to enhance the heat and thermal energy transfer within the channel, different obstacle arrangements are posed to the flow field and heat transfer with the purpose of studying their sensitivity to these changes. The results indicate that, when the value of the Reynolds number is maximum, the maximum average Nusselt numbers happens on the lower wall (Case 4). The paper extends the topic to the use of nanofluids to introduce a possibility to enhancement of the heat transfer in the channel with an array of the obstacles with forced convection. For this purpose, the AgMgO/water micropolar hybrid nanofluid is used, and the volume fraction of the nanoparticle (50% Ag and 50% MgO by volume) is set between 0 and 0.02. The results showed that, when the hybrid nanofluid is used instead of a typical nanofluid, the rate of the heat transfer inside the channel increases, especially for the high values of the Reynolds number, and the volume fraction of the nanoparticles. Increasing the volume fraction of the nanoparticles increase the local Nusselt number ( 1.17-fold). It is shown that the type of obstacle arrangement and the specific nanofluid can exerts significant effects on the characteristics of the flow field and heat transfer in the channel. This study provides a platform for using the LBM to examine fluid flow through discrete obstacles in offset positions.


1962 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. N. Tao

This paper is concerned with the heat-transfer problem of laminar forced convection in noncircular pipes with arbitrary heat generation and prescribed heat flux at the wall. This class of boundary-value problems with Neumann conditions is approached by the method of conformal mapping. The solutions in terms of two analytic functions are established. This greatly enlarges the possibilities of analyses to many configurations which are otherwise not easily attainable. The example of an indented pipe of cardioid section is investigated in detail.


Author(s):  
Arjun Chanmugam ◽  
Rajeev Hatwar ◽  
Cila Herman

Breast cancer is one of the most common and dangerous cancers. Subsurface breast cancer lesions generate more heat and have increased blood supply when compared to healthy tissue, and this temperature rise is mirrored in the skin surface temperature. The rise in temperature on the skin surface, caused by the cancerous lesion, can be measured noninvasively using infrared thermography, which can be used as a diagnostic tool to detect the presence of a lesion. However, its diagnostic ability is limited when image interpretation relies on qualitative principles. In this study, we present a quantitative thermal analysis of breast cancer using a 3D computational model of the breast. The COMSOL FEM software was used to carry out the analysis. The effect of various parameters (tumor size, location, metabolic heat generation and blood perfusion rate) on the surface temperature distribution (which can be measured with infrared thermography) has been analyzed. Key defining features of the surface temperature profile have been identified, which can be used to estimate the size and location of the tumor based on (measured) surface temperature data. In addition, we employed a dynamic cooling process, to analyze surface temperature distributions during cooling and thermal recovery as a function of time. In this study, the effect of the cooling temperature on the enhancement of the temperature differences between normal tissue and cancerous lesions is evaluated. This study demonstrates that a quantification of temperature distributions by computational modeling, combined with thermographic imaging and dynamic cooling can be an important tool in the early detection of breast cancer.


Author(s):  
Fariborz Karimi Talkhoncheh ◽  
Hongtao Xu ◽  
Zhiyun Wang ◽  
Mo Yang ◽  
Yuwen Zhang

Purpose – Unsteady simulation of forced convection of two heated horizontal cylinders confined in a 2D squared enclosure. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The finite-volume method is used to solve the transient heat transfer problem by employing quadrilateral mesh type. To solve the governing equations (conservations of mass, momentum and energy) on unstructured control volumes, a second-order quadratic upwind interpolation of convective kinematics scheme for the convection terms and the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equations pressure correction algorithm were used. Findings – The results indicate that the variation of the area-averaged Nusselt number strongly depends on the Reynolds number. On the contrary, the effect of cylinders’ space on heat transfer was found to be nearly negligible for Re < 460. It is also observed that steady state flow and heat transfer shift to periodical oscillation, and ultimately chaotic oscillation in non-dimensional cylinders distance of 0.1; however the sequence of appearing this route is completely different for higher cylinder spaces. Research limitations/implications – Reynolds numbers between 380 and 550 and dimensionless horizontal distances of cylinders 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3. Originality/value – Comprehensive knowledge of the effect of tube arrays flow regime on each other and in turn, heat transfer among them. Better understanding of convective heat transfer around an array of horizontal cylinders compared with from those around a single cylinder because of the mutual interaction of the buoyant plumes generated by the cylinders. Time-dependent phenomena of the problem including periodical oscillation or chaotic features.


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