Abstract
The rewarming process of cryopreserved organs using microwave technology is analyzed by numerical simulation. The FDTD (finite‐difference time‐domain) method is applied to calculate the electromagnetic field in a real microwave rewarming system, composed by a cylindrical resonant cavity, an antenna source, and a frozen rabbit‐kidney phantom with temperature‐dependent properties. The efficiency of the FDTD codes is improved by nonuniform grid techniques and parallel algorithms. Meanwhile, an apparent specific‐heat method is introduced in the temperature‐field calculation. Coupling the solutions of the two fields is realized by a formerly developed algorithm. The numerical results show that in the rewarming process of the rabbit kidney phantom, the warming rate can reach 300°–500°C/min, which may prevent devitrification, but the maximum temperature difference in the sample (18 mm in radius) can reach 15°C at the end, which may cause severe thermal stress. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 46: 201–205, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20945