Temperature Measurement in Microwave-Induced Hyperthermia Treatments Using FBG Sensors

This paper presents a temperature study of cellular spheroids of the line MCF-07 under a hyperthermia (HT) treatment. A 3D printed culture plate embedded with optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors was designed to perform real-time temperature measurements of the spheroids. The proposed culture plate preserves the fiber sensors' integrity and functionality while remaining immune to the high electromagnetic interference scenario. A custom microwave applicator was designed to eliminate direct contact between the heating element and the samples, while considering the culture plate material's permittivity to ensure efficient heating. The heating setup maintains the samples' temperature within the HT range, which is crucial for predicting treatment outcomes. The sensors embedded in the designed culture plate achieved an accuracy within 0.31 <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\circ }$</tex-math></inline-formula>C. Initial observations of the temperature effects on spheroids are discussed, highlighting the potential of this approach to understand how temperature variations within the HT range affect cell cultures.