Heat transfer in tissue containing a prevascular tumor Original Research Article

A mathematical model which examines the steady state temperature distribution in tissue containing a prevascular tumor is presented. The tumor is modeled as a one-dimensional cancer cell culture consisting of a necrotic core surrounded by a region of live proliferating cells. Skin temperature is expressed as a function of tumor location, tumor size, necrotic region size, and ambient temperature. It is determined that the size of the necrotic region is a critical parameter for detecting the presence of the tumor from the skin temperature.