Computational Modeling of Laser Ablation Therapy for Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia: Optimization of Bioheat Transfer

Abstract

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is a common precancerous condition that is treatable with laser therapy. This study presents a computational thermal analysis of CIN tissue under laser ablation, focusing on CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3 stages. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and high-resolution meshing, thermal responses were evaluated under laser power settings of 20 W/cm² to 50 W/cm². Mesh complexity increased with lesion severity: CIN1 included 683 vertices and 172 triangular elements (average quality 0.9147), CIN2 had 707 vertices and 241 elements (average quality 0.9226), and CIN3 used 7,181 vertices and 14,023 elements (average quality 0.945). Thermal analysis showed that CIN1 reached 38.28 °C at 20 W/m² and 39.49 °C at 50 W/m², with heating rates of 0.0024 °C/s and 0.0083 °C/s, respectively. CIN2 peaked at 39.71 °C and 44.51 °C with heating rates of 0.0090 °C/s and 0.0250 °C/s while CIN3 reached 43.91 °C and 55.07 °C, with heating rates of 0.0230 °C/s and 0.0602 °C/s, respectively. The results indicate that higher power settings lead to more aggressive thermal gradients and faster heating, particularly in advanced CIN stages. These findings emphasize the importance of power modulation in simulating ablation outcomes.