Freezing Brain Tumors Noninvasively with Laser Cooling

Cryoablation is a cancer therapy that freezes tumors to induce cell rupture and death. However, it is a dangerous process for brain tumors because the procedure requires the use of probes to freeze the tumor. Therefore, my project goal was to determine if it is possible to perform cryoablation noninvasively for brain tumors using laser cooling. I designed a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the lowest temperature that different nanoparticles can be laser cooled to when immersed in water. I also performed finite element analyses to determine if the combined effect of the heat loss from the laser cooled nanoparticles and the heat generated from the laser interactions with brain tissue produced a net cooling in the brain tumor. My simulations and inferences made from laser cooling and laser-tissue interaction literature indicate that it may be possible to perform cryoablation through laser cooling only for tumors close to the outer surface of the brain.