A Modified Compact Flexible Vivaldi Antenna Array Design for Microwave Breast Cancer Detection

Abstract

In this paper, a compact, flexible Vivaldi antenna is designed, and an array of nine identical antennas of this type is used as a microwave breast imaging model to detect cancerous tumors in the multilayers phantom model presented in this paper. The nine-antenna array is used to measure the backscattering signal of the breast phantom, where one antenna acts as a transmitter and the other eight antennas act as receivers of the scattered signals. Then, the second antenna is used as a transmitter and the other antennas as receivers, and so on till we have gone through all the antennas. These collected backscattered signals are used to reconstruct the image of the breast phantom using software called “Microwave Radar-based Imaging Toolbox (MERIT)”. From the reconstructed image, the tumor inside the breast model can be identified and located. Different tumor sizes in different locations are tested, and it is found that the locations can be determined irrespective of the tumor size. The proposed modified Vivaldi antenna has a very compact size of 25 × 20 × 0.1 mm3 and has a different geometry compared with conventional Vivaldi antennas. The first version of the antenna has two resonant frequencies at 4 and 9.4 GHz, and because we are interested more in the first band, where it gives us sufficient resolution, we have notched the second frequency by etching two slots in the ground plane of the antenna and adding two rectangular parasitic elements on the radiating side of the antenna. This technique is utilized to block the second frequency at 9.4 GHz, and, as a result, the bandwidth of the first resonant frequency is enhanced by 20% compared with the first design bandwidth. The modified antenna is fabricated on Polyimide flexible material 0.1 mm thick with a dielectric constant of 3.5 using a standard PCB manufacturing process. The measured performance of this antenna is compared with the simulated results using the commercially available simulation software Ansoft HFSS, and it is found that the measured results and the simulated results are in good agreement.

In silico, in vitro, and in vivo validation of a microwave imaging system using a low‐profile Ultra Wide Band Archimedean spiral antenna to detect skin cancer

“…To reduce the clutter or noise and improve the quality of the reconstructed image of the forearm phantom, a nonlinear CF-DMAS algorithm has been proposed that is mentioned in Equation (9). In this algorithm, pair-wise multiplication of time-delayed signals is done and finally summed up.…”

“…Researchers have proposed different antennas and techniques to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of MSRMI for skin cancer detection and diagnosis. The different types of antennas that are utilized for this purpose are slot microstrip antennas, horn antennas, Vivaldi antennas, dielectric resonator antennas (DRA), bi‐conical, log periodic antennas, bow tie antennas, AMC integrated antennas, etc 7–13 . The antennas already avalilable in the literature have a large profile, low gain, low directivity, low efficiency, offer a wide band of operation, and are also complex to integrate within the MSRMI system.…”

“…The different types of antennas that are utilized for this purpose are slot microstrip antennas, horn antennas, Vivaldi antennas, dielectric resonator antennas (DRA), bi-conical, log periodic antennas, bow tie antennas, AMC integrated antennas, etc. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The antennas already avalilable in the literature have a large profile, low gain, low directivity, low efficiency, offer a wide band of operation, and are also complex to integrate within the MSRMI system. Thus, to overcome the drawbacks of the mentioned antennas for MI purposes, this research work proposes an Ultra Wide Band Archimedean spiral microstrip-patch antenna (UWB ASMA) for MSRMI of the human forearm to detect skin cancer and localize its position by creating a dielectric profile of the skin area under scan.…”

Compact Flexible Planar Antennas for Biomedical Applications: Insight into Materials and Systems Design

“…A defective ground structure introduced in the ground plane optimizes the surface current in the patch antenna, which increases the operation frequency from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. In [101], a modified, small, flexible Vivaldi antenna with dimensions of 25 × 20 × 0.1 mm 3 was proposed and examined, and it is shown in Figure 20. Two antenna designs were examined; one has a resonant frequency at 4.4 GHz, and the other has a resonant frequency at 9.4 GHz.…”

“…Two antenna designs were examined; one has a resonant frequency at 4.4 GHz, and the other has a resonant frequency at 9.4 GHz. The antenna was fabricated via the conventional PCB manufacturing method and uses a flexible material (polyimide) with a dielectric constant of 3.5 and a thickness of 0.1 mm [101]. With an array of nine identical 4.4 GHz antennas, a microwave radar-based imaging toolbox was employed to detect and pinpoint tumor cells inside a layered phantom model.…”