Introduction. Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality, accounting for 11.6% of the total number of deaths. The main treatments for this disease are surgical removal of the tumor, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Recently, different minimally invasive technologies have been applied (e.g., emission of electromagnetic waves, thermal and chemical means) to overcome the important side effects of these treatment modalities. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a predictive computational model of microwave ablation. Materials and Methods. The predictive computational model of microwave ablation was constructed by means of a dual-slot coaxial antenna. The model was compared with an experiment performed using a breast phantom, which emulates the dielectric properties of breast tissue with segmental microcalcifications. The standing wave ratio (SWR) was obtained for both methods to make a comparison and determine the feasibility of applying electromagnetic ablation to premalignant lesions in breasts. Specifically, for the analysis of segmental microcalcifications, a breast phantom with segmental microcalcifications was developed and two computational models were performed under the same conditions (except for blood perfusion, which was excluded in one of the models). Results. The SWR was obtained by triplicate experiments in the phantom, and the measurements had a difference of 0.191 between the minimum and maximum SWR values, implying a change of power reflection of 0.8%. The average of the three measurements was compared with the simulation that did not consider blood perfusion. The comparison yielded a change of 0.104, representing a 0.2% change in power reflection. Discussion. Both experimentation in phantom and simulations demonstrated that ablation therapy can be performed using this antenna. However, an additional optimization procedure is warranted to increase the efficiency of the antenna.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most relevant noncommunicable diseases; the WHO figures in its latest update that 422 million people suffer from it; additionally, it has remained for more than 20 years within the 10 main causes of death worldwide; this disease affects the population at any age; glucose measurement is used to assist the treatment of this disease by different methods that are classified as invasive, minimally invasive, and noninvasive, the latter being an area of recent development due that it is not traumatic for patients. This work consists of the experimental characterization of an optical system for plasma glucometry using near infrared by spectrophotometry. This glucometry system is based on the employ of an infrared LED with a wavelength of 1650 nm, a beam angle of 16°, and an output power of 1.6 mW that passes through the analyte (glucose in blood plasma) that is contained in cuvettes of different materials (acrylic and quartz) to subsequently affect a photodiode with different active areas ranging from 0.06 mm to 1.5 mm in order to evaluate the efficiency by comparing the sensitivity in the presence of glucose making additions ranging 100 mg/dl–1000 mg/dl within a dark chamber. The experiments showed that the use of photodiodes with a larger active area and the use of quartz cuvettes show a higher sensitivity compared to photodiodes with small active areas and the use of acrylic cuvettes. This configuration presented an R2 of 0.99 and a sensitivity of 0.225 mV/1 mg/dl of glucose; despite the fact that the initial voltage in each of the experimental repetitions varies, the downward voltage pattern is maintained; based on this, it is concluded that this method using this setup is feasible for plasma glucose measurement.