Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2024

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor

Erin B Harmon

Abstract

Bladder cancer has a considerable issue with multiple recurrences of tumors, and current treatments are unable to adequately address these concerns. This results in continuous surveillance. Ablation, or killing, of bladder cancer cells is often incomplete and results in a high probability of recurrence. This paper aims to evaluate a potential method of ablation using a model that simulates a bladder and what conditions are needed for optimal quality and depth penetration. This balloon model for water vapor ablation is intended to simulate bladder cancer cells and determine if this is a viable avenue for future research. A device from Francis Medical, in combination with mylar balloons and raw chicken, was used as the equipment to support a model to determine the viability of water vapor ablation for bladder cancer. This was achieved using raw chicken in mylar balloons to simulate the surfaces in a bladder. Water vapor is injected into the balloon, and the outer surface of the chicken undergoes energy transfer. After treatment, the chicken was evaluated to see how far the energy had penetrated the tissue and what ablation quality had occurred. After conducting several experiments at various durations and energy levels, it was found that the chicken achieved its ideal depth when it was treated for 6 seconds at 50 calories per second. Based on the multitude of experiments, the ultimate determination was that while it will require more stringent modeling and experimentation in the future to explore the possibilities and viability, this method merits future study. It efficiently and effectively transferred energy to kill a uniform layer of cells on the surface of the chicken.

Subject Categories

Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

Keywords

bladder cancer, balloon model, water vapor ablation

Number of Pages

55

Publisher

University of South Dakota

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