An Active Microwave Sensor for Near Field Imaging

Near-field imaging using microwaves in medical applications is of great current interest for its capability and accuracy in identifying features of interest, in comparison with other known screening tools. This paper documents microwave imaging experiments on breast cancer detection, using active antenna tuning to obtain matching over a wide bandwidth. A simple phantom consisting of a plastic container with a low dielectric material emulating fatty tissue and a high dielectric constant object emulating a tumor is scanned between 4 and 8 GHz with a ultra-wideband microstrip antenna. Measurements indicate that this prototype microwave sensor is a good candidate for such imaging applications.