Sensor design for cancer tissue diagnostics

In this paper, the design of a metamaterial-based sensor, operating in the mid-infrared frequency range, is proposed. The sensor consists of a planar array of complementary circular inclusions. The resonant frequencies of the sensor are designed to coincide with the proteins and lipids spectral characteristics, in order to detect the presence of cancer tissues, by absorption measurements. This sensor can be also used for the recognition of different benign tumours in a highly accurate and sensitive way. A new analytical circuit model has been developed, useful to describe its resonant behavior. The sensing device is, then, optimized to obtain high selectivity performances and has been tested through proper full-wave simulations. The structure can be used as a biological sensor with possible applications in medical diagnostics.