Early-Stage Lung Tumor Detection Based on Super-Wideband Microwave Reflectometry

Design and experimental validation of a metamaterial-based sensor for microwave imaging in breast, lung, and brain cancer detection

This study proposes an innovative geometry of a microstrip sensor for high-resolution microwave imaging (MWI). The main intended application of the sensor is early detection of breast, lung, and brain cancer. The proposed design consists of a microstrip patch antenna fed by a coplanar waveguide with a metamaterial (MTM) layer-based lens implemented on the back side, and an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) realized on as a separate layer. The analysis of the AMC's permeability and permittivity demonstrate that the structure exhibits negative epsilon (ENG) qualities near the antenna resonance point. In addition, reflectivity, transmittance, and absorption are also studied. The sensor prototype has been manufactures using the FR4 laminate. Excellent electrical and field characteristics of the structure are confirmed through experimental validation. At the resonance frequency of 4.56 GHz, the realized gain reaches 8.5 dBi, with 3.8 dBi gain enhancement contributed by the AMC. The suitability of the presented sensor for detecting brain tumors, lung cancer, and breast cancer has been corroborated through extensive simulation-based experiments performed using the MWI system model, which employs four copies of the proposed sensor, as well as the breast, lung, and brain phantoms. As demonstrated, the directional radiation pattern and enhanced gain of the sensor enable precise tumor size discrimination. The proposed sensor offers competitive performance in comparison the state-of-the-art sensors described in the recent literature, especially with respect to as gain, pattern directivity, and impedance matching, all being critical for MWI.

Exploring the Potential of Sensing for Breast Cancer Detection

Breast cancer is a generalized global problem. Biomarkers are the active substances that have been considered as the signature of the existence and evolution of cancer. Early screening of different biomarkers associated with breast cancer can help doctors to design a treatment plan. However, each screening technique for breast cancer has some limitations. In most cases, a single technique can detect a single biomarker at a specific time. In this study, we address different types of biomarkers associated with breast cancer. This review article presents a detailed picture of different techniques and each technique’s associated mechanism, sensitivity, limit of detection, and linear range for breast cancer detection at early stages. The limitations of existing approaches require researchers to modify and develop new methods to identify cancer biomarkers at early stages.