Computational Modeling With Phantom-Tissue Validation of Gold-Nanorod-Enhanced Laser Ablation of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a computational model for the laser ablation (LA) of prostate cancer, enhanced by gold-nanorods (GNRs) in a phantom-tissue system, and to explore the effect of GNRs on the ablation zone. A prostate biomimetic tissue (PBT) was prepared with different volume fractions of GNRs (i.e., 0, 1.68 × 10−7 or 8.40 × 10−7). Specifically, the computational model was built by considering the change of light properties of PBTs with and without GNRs and introducing the dynamic heat source determined by porcine liver carbonization, reported elsewhere. The computational model was then validated by comparing the simulation and the ex vivo LA experiment in terms of three performance indexes, namely, (i) the spatiotemporal temperature distribution, (ii) ablation zone, and (iii) carbonization zone, with the three volume fractions of GNRs in the PBT model, as mentioned above. Except for minor discrepancies found in the carbonization zone, the proposed model agrees with the experimental data. The effect of GNRs on LA was explored with the help of the model, and nine combinations of the laser powers and the volume fractions of GNRs were tested. The result shows that the ablation zone increases with the increase in the volume fraction of GNRs for all three laser powers used. Two conclusions can be drawn: (1) loading GNRs into the tissues may increase the ablation zone of LA, and (2) the proposed computational model is a reliable tool for predicting the spatiotemporal temperature distribution and the ablation zone of the GNR-enhanced LA.