Exploring the Potential of Micro-Strip Patch Antenna for Cancer Screening via Biopsy Sample Analysis

Abstract

Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers affecting women globally, posing significant public health challenges due to its high incidence and mortality rates, making early detection crucial for improving patient outcomes and survival rates. However, conventional screening methods such as mammography, MRI, and ultrasound have drawbacks including high costs, radiation exposure, and the need for highly trained personnel. Microstrip patch antennas (MPAs) are widely used in various fields, including satellite communication and radar, due to their compact size, light weight, and simplicity of construction. Since the early 2000s, MPAs have gained interest in cancer screening for their high sensitivity to tissue dielectric variations, cost-effectiveness, and potential to revolutionize early cancer detection through innovations such as UWB antenna designs and multi-slotted patch antennas. Our thesis explores the potential of microstrip patch antennas (MPAs) for cancer screening through the analysis of biopsy samples based on their dielectric properties, addressing the gap in research where existing studies do not use actual biopsy sample models. We utilize software simulations to evaluate the interaction between MPAs and real tissue samples, focusing on screening cancerous tissues based on changes in the S11 scattering parameter. Furthermore, our analysis investigates whether MPAs can differentiate between various stages of cancer, aiming to advance early detection methods. Our method successfully differentiates between breast cancer stages by analyzing the shifts in frequency of minimum return loss, which decreases as the cancer stage advances. The mean absolute errors for the three antenna sizes were very low, with values of 7.5 × 10−3, 8.38×10−3, and 9.1×10−3 after building a regression model and making predictions using arbitrary values of electric conductivity and relative permittivity. Our study demonstrates that microstrip patch antennas, utilizing the dielectric properties of biopsy samples, can potentially lead to significant advancements in breast cancer detection by differentiating based on these properties.