Thermal Properties of Ex Vivo Biological Tissue at Room and Body Temperature

In electromagnetic hyperthermic applications, the thermal properties of the biological tissue under treatment, as well as its dielectric properties, influence the deposition of the electromagnetic energy and the heat distribution into the tissue. Thus, their knowledge can allow to accurately model the therapeutic results. The induced heat distribution and the consequent temperature increase rate are ruled by the thermal properties of the biological tissues. The aim of this work is to experimentally investigate the thermal properties of ex vivo liver, lung, kidney, muscle and bone marrow at room (N=66) and body (N=45) temperatures; and to correlate these properties with the density and water content of the tissue.