Finite element method for analyses of magnetic and electric field distributions of monopole antennas in liver tissue

This paper presents three-dimensional finite element analyses of microwave ablation. We studied the characteristics of various monopole antennas for microwave ablation by analyzing the magnetic and electric field distributions at frequency of 2.45 GHz. Four configurations of monopole antennas were considered: open-tip, dielectric-tip, metal-tip and slot antennas. From the simulation results, the open-tip antenna had a small amount of magnetic field distribution at the tip, while the dielectric-tip antenna had virtually no magnetic field distribution at the tip. The metal-tip and slot antennas had continuous magnetic field distribution extending from the tip. The electric field distribution of open-tip, dielectric-tip, and metal-tip monopole antennas were similar, while the electric field distribution of slot antenna was maximized at the tip, but covered a narrower region along the length of the antenna.