Using Cyber-Infrastructure for Dynamic Data Driven Laser Treatment of Cancer

Hyperthermia based cancer treatments are used to increase the susceptibility of cancerous tissue to subsequent radiation or chemotherapy treatments, and in the case in which a tumor exists as a well-defined region, higher intensity heat sources may be used to ablate the tissue. Utilizing the guidance of real-time treatment data while applying a laser heat source has the potential to provide unprecedented control over the outcome of the treatment process [6,12]. The goals of this work are to provide a working snapshot of the current system architecture developed to provide a real-time finite element solution of the problems of calibration, optimal heat source control, and goal-oriented error estimation applied the equations of bioheat transfer and demonstrate that current finite element technology, parallel computer architecture, peer-to-peer data transfer infrastructure, and thermal imaging modalities are capable of inducing a precise computer controlled temperature field within the biological domain.