Enhancing breast tumor detection with near-filed imaging - IEEE Microwave Magazine

wave engineers have dreamed of using nonionizing electromagnetic waves to image the human body in order to detect cancers. Over the past several years, significant progress has been made towards making this dream a reality for breast cancer detection. In the next decade, microwave systems are likely to become a viable diagnostic option for many women. Why this optimistic outlook? More so than for any other cancers, breast tumors have electrical properties at microwave frequencies that are significantly different than those of healthy breast tissues. The breast can easily be accessed from outside, while internal organs are much less accessible. Normal breast tissue is also more translucent to microwaves than many other tissues, such as muscle or brain. Phenome-