Simulation and investigation of quantum dot effects as internal heat-generator source in breast tumor site

The Pennes bio-heat transfer equation, which introduces the exchange magnitude of heat transfer between tissue and blood, is often used to solve the temperature distribution for thermal imaging and sensing. Near-infrared light has the ability to be used as a non-invasive means of diagnostic imaging within the woman's breast. Due to the diffusive nature of light in different tissue, computational model-based methods are required for functional imaging within the breast. In this article, the time-dependent bio-heat transfer is solved by a numerical method. In our model, the heat generation source (intrinsic and extrinsic) involves laser, metabolism, and quantum dot that the metabolism and heat generated by QDs are considered as intrinsic. We supposed the injected quantum dots would target the tumor site by a passive targeting process and then by interaction of laser radiation and quantum dot, the photoluminescence of quantum dot is converted to heat in the tumor site. The extra generated heat can impact on the extracted heat profile. One of the important applications of this research has led to a sensitivity improvement of the imaging system, which is potentially useful in the diagnosis and detection of breast cancer. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.