Investigation of Breast Cancer in Fabricated Breast Phantom Using Wearable Patch Antenna

In this study, a wearable microstrip patch antenna design is proposed to detect breast cancer based on the contrast in dielectric properties between healthy and infected (malignant) tissues. To test the proposed antenna, a three layered (skin, fat, glandular) breast phantom that can mimic human breast has been developed. A wearable, small size printed patch antenna was used on breast phantom for the stage I and stage II cancer detection. Return loss values of a 28.8 × 28.8 mm2 patch antenna which implemented on FR4 structure were used to study effect of the tumor. Firstly, a multilayer breast phantom model was designed by using CST Microwave Studio and simulations were taken to detect the tumor. Additionally, a realistic breast phantom composed of skin, fat and glandular was fabricated to test the designed antenna. After carrying out the simulations, the realistic healthy and infected breast phantoms were obtained and the aforementioned antenna was fabricated. The return loss measurements were taken on fabricated phantoms by a network analyzer (NanoVNAF Network Analyzer) and compared with the simulated results. Measurement of fabricated breast phantoms are in good agreement with the simulated results. The proposed study can be considered as a promising method for breast cancer research and presents a new and promising method to doctors in the detection of breast cancer with the obtained antenna and sheds light on the researchers with the fabricated breast phantom.