Development and Initial Validation of a Millimeter-Wave System for Dielectric-Based Differentiation of Biological Tissues

Brain cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer due to limited treatment options and challenges in tumor differentiation during surgery. Current surgical assistance tools often face limitations in cost, accessibility, and precision. Millimeter-wave (mmWave) technologies have emerged as promising alternatives for real-time, non-invasive differentiation of healthy and cancerous brain tissues, leveraging their sensitivity to dielectric properties. This work presents the development and initial assessment of a mmWave measurement system designed to differentiate biological tissues based on their dielectric properties. As validation, various concentrations of isopropanol (IPA) in water were analyzed. Two setups, using reflection and transmission measurements, showed clear sensitivity to changes in dielectric constant, with the transmission setup demonstrating higher sensitivity.