Theoretical studies of optimal light delivery for tumor treatment

Abstract

Optimal laser light delivery into turbid biological tissue was studied using MOnte Carlo simulations. The goal was to efficiently deliver maximum amount of optical power into buried tumors being treated while avoiding damage to normal tissue caused by strong optical power deposition underneath the tissue surface illuminated by the laser beam. The buried tumors were considered to have much higher absorption than the surrounding normal tissue via selective uptake of absorption-enhancement dye by the tumor. The power delivering efficiency to buried tumors was investigated for various diameters of the laser beam. An optimal beam diameter was estimated to achieve the maximum produce of the power coupling efficiency and the power delivered to the buried tumor. The distribution of power deposition was simulated for single beam delivery and multiple beam delivery as well. The simulated results showed that with an appropriate dye enhancement and an optimal laser delivery configuration, a high selectivity for laser treatment of tumor could be achieved.