Early Breast Cancer Detection with Microwave Imaging Technique by Using Spiral PIFA Antenna

This paper presents a spiral Planar Inverted F Antenna (PIFA) for early detection of breast cancer using microwave imaging technique. To design this antenna, the material of the substrate and the ground is selected as FR-4 and copper respectively. The patches of the antenna are made of copper as well. The frequency ranges of this work is from 2.83.8 GHz. In this work, the feeding technique is coaxial feeding where Perfect Electrical Conductor (PEC) material is used. This antenna is analyzed not only in free space but also inside a breast phantom model. A breast model is designed which is inspired by the realistic one as the dielectric properties of the designed model is same as the breast tissue. The breast model is made of two layers of skin and fat. The performance analysis of the antenna with the breast model is conducted using the CST Microwave Studio. In order to validate the feasibility of the proposed design, the simulated results are presented in form of return loss, bandwidth, gain, electric fields, magnetic field and VSWR. A better matching impedance of 50 ohm is found in order. The return loss of -22 dB is achieved due to the high impedance matching. The value of VSWR is less than 2. The antenna is also simulated by positioning tumor and non-tumor phantom models on the breast model. Since various tissues have various permittivity and conductivity, the breast tumor also has distinct permittivity and conductivity in contrast to the healthier one. By comparing the simulated result without tumor and with tumor, the presence of tumor is determined.