Breast cancer imaging at mm-waves: Feasibility study on the safety exposure limits

Breast cancer is a leading disease worldwide, and the success of medical therapies is heavily related to the availability of breast cancer imaging techniques. While current methods, mainly ultrasound, x-ray mammography, and magnetic resonance imaging, all exhibit some disadvantages, a possible alternative investigated in recent years is based on microwave and mm-wave imaging system. A key point for these systems is their reliability in terms of safety, in particular exposure limits. This paper presents a feasibility study for a mm-wave breast cancer imaging system, with the aim of ensuring safety and compliance with the widely adopted European ICNIRP recommendations. The study is based on finite element method models of human tissues, experimentally characterized by measures obtained at one of the most important European clinical center for cancer treatments. Results prove the feasibility of the system, which can meet the exposure limits while providing the required dynamic range to let the receiver detect the cancer anomaly. In addition, the dosimetric quantities used at the present and their maximum limits at mm-waves are taking into discussion and the possibility of needing moderns quantities and limitations is discussed.