Demonstration of dielectric heterogeneity of previously assumed homogeneous tissues: Examination of the heart

Accurate dielectric properties of biological tissues are extremely important for reliability and safety of various medical treatments, including microwave ablation (MWA), and in diagnostic technologies. This paper presents dielectric measurements of different regions of the porcine heart in order to quantitatively investigative the inter- and intra-patient variation of dielectric properties. The results demonstrate that the dielectric properties of different regions of the heart depend considerably on the patient and have up to a maximum of 45% intra-patient variation. The obtained results suggest that treating the heart as a homogeneous organ may not provide accurate dielectric representation of the entire organ.