CPW-Fed Monopole Antenna Design with Extended Operation Ultra-Wideband Band for Breast Cancer Detection

In this paper, a coplanar waveguide-fed (CPW-Fed) Ultra-Wideband Band antenna design is presented for the early detection of tiny tumors or cells in the human breast. The proposed antenna design configuration includes a modified circular radiation patch with a hexagonal slot and a half-oval-shaped ground plane arranged as a single layer. The antenna is designed on a low-cost FR4 substrate material with a loss tangent of 0.02, a dielectric constant of 4.4, and a thickness of 1.6 mm. It is compact with a size of 31.8x26x1. 6 mm3. The antenna operates at frequencies 2.8 GHz to 20 GHz, covering both microwave and millimeter spectra, with a fractional bandwidth of 150.8%. The proposed antenna offers over 98% radiation efficiency and 95% total efficiency, with maximum gain characteristics ranging from 1.5 to 5 dBi. The antenna is used to detect minuscule single and multiple tumors in a heterogeneous breast phantom, with results showing accurate detection of tumors of varying sizes, namely 5, 3.5 down to 2 mm. It emits radiation in all directions and conforms to a specific absorption rate (SAR) figure of merit limit specified by the Federal Communication Commission. The antenna design is validated through simulation using the CST STUDIO platform, and the results are compared to those of other available techniques in the literature. It is found to have comparable characteristics in addition to its ability to detect tiny tumors in the human breast.