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Terahertz Imaging and Characterization Protocol for Freshly Excised Breast Cancer Tumors
Published on: April 5, 2020
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Negative Index Metamaterial-Based Frequency-Reconfigurable Textile CPW Antenna for Microwave Imaging of Breast Cancer
Kabir Hossain1,2, Thennarasan Sabapathy1,2, Muzammil Jusoh1,2
1Advanced Communication Engineering (ACE), Centre of Excellence, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Jalan Tiga, Pengkalan Jaya Business Centre, Kangar 01000, Malaysia.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 26, 2022
Summary
A novel metamaterial antenna for microwave breast imaging can detect 10 mm tumors. This reconfigurable textile antenna offers a wide frequency range and directional patterns for clinical breast cancer detection.
Area of Science:
- Applied Electromagnetics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Materials Science
Background:
- Early breast cancer detection is crucial for improving patient outcomes.
- Existing microwave imaging techniques face challenges in sensitivity and specificity.
- Reconfigurable antennas offer potential for enhanced microwave breast imaging (MWI) systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and develop a metamaterial (MTM)-based reconfigurable textile antenna for MWI.
- To evaluate the antenna's performance in terms of frequency reconfiguration, bandwidth, gain, and efficiency.
- To assess the MWI system's capability in detecting simulated breast cancer in a realistic phantom.
Main Methods:
- Design and simulation of a metamaterial (MTM)-based coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed reconfigurable textile antenna using radiofrequency (RF) varactor diodes.
- Experimental validation of antenna performance, including frequency reconfiguration (2.42–3.2 GHz) and static bandwidth (4–15 GHz).
- Microwave imaging experiments using a realistic breast phantom with heterogeneous tissue composition and image reconstruction via delay-and-sum (DAS) and delay-multiply-and-sum (DMAS) algorithms.
Main Results:
- The MTM-based antenna achieved continuous frequency reconfiguration with a 2.33:1 ratio and a static bandwidth of 4–15 GHz.
- Directional radiation patterns were achieved, with a peak gain of 7.56 dBi and average efficiency exceeding 67%.
- The MWI system successfully detected simulated tumors as small as 10 mm in the breast phantom.
Conclusions:
- The developed MTM-based reconfigurable textile antenna is suitable for MWI applications.
- The MWI system demonstrates significant potential for early and accurate breast cancer detection.
- This technology may offer a viable clinical tool for breast cancer screening.
