Abstract
The heating of a patient by a physical energy, such as microwave or ultrasonics, combined with x-ray or pharmaceutical therapy, is presently considered as a promising approach to cancer therapy. This paper discusses the possibility of therapy design using a small-scale computer. The possibility of concentrating the heat generation and temperature rise by a suitable design is first demonstrated using a simple model of a uniform cylinder. Then, the scale of computation is estimated if an actual design is considered using a crude finite-element calculation. Comparing the result of model calculation and the generally accepted requirement for heating, it is concluded that the present-day small-scale computer will be sufficient to arrive at a suitable design for hyperthermia.