Investigation of temperature fields around embedded cryoprobes.
The temperature fields around cryoprobes were investigated analytically and experimentally. Two cryoprobes were employed: a spherically shaped general purpose probe utilizing liquid nitrogen and a cylindrical "glaucoma" probe utilizing the Joule-Thomson effect in gaseous CO2. Both probes were operated by commercial cryostats. The analytical solutions included a one-dimensional integral solution for the general purpose cryoprobe, and finite element solutions for both cryoprobes. Both solutions were based on the enthalpy method. Analytical and experimental results compared reasonably well. Deviations of these results are believed to be due, mainly, to the incomplete specification of the boundary conditions on the surface of the cryoprobe.
D003452:Cryosurgery; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors