Calorimetry as a quality tool in hyperthermia

As hyperthermia becomes more widely accepted as an effective adjuvant therapy in the treatment of cancer, standardized quality assurance in the hyperthermia clinic becomes essential for reliable system performance and clinical results. The authors found that calorimetry provides a simple way of performing total system checks immediately before treatment and also allows the applicator's efficiency to be determined. Thus, they are able to determine the net power deposited into the target as a function of indicated power at the generator. The authors have used this technique with microwave, intracavitary ultrasound, focused ultrasound, and regional electromagnetic heating systems and applicators. They describe their measurement techniques, present plots of efficiency versus applied power for the two applicators, and discussed their results.<>