Textile Antenna Sensor in SIW Technology for Liquid Characterization.

This study showcases the creation of an innovative textile antenna sensor that utilizes a resonant cavity for the purpose of liquid characterization. The cavity is based on circular substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) technology. A hole is created in the middle of the structure where a pipe is used to inject the liquid under test. The pipe is covered by a metal sheath to enhance the electromagnetic field's penetration of the tube, thus increasing the device's sensitivity. The resonance frequency of the proposed system is altered when the liquid under test is inserted into the sensitive area of the structure. The sensing of the liquid is achieved by the measurement of its dielectric properties via the perturbation of the electric fields in the SIW configuration. The S11 measurement enables the extraction of the electromagnetic properties of the liquid injected into the pipe. Specifically, the dielectric constant of the liquid is determined by observing the resonance frequency shift relative to that of an air-filled pipe. The loss tangent of the liquid is extracted by comparing the variation in the quality factor with that of an air-filled pipe after eliminating the inherent losses of the structure. The proposed SIW antenna sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity of 0.7 GHz/Δεr corresponding to a dielectric constant range from 4 to 72. To the best of our knowledge, this article presents for the first time the ability of a fully textile SIW cavity antenna-based sensor to characterize the dielectric properties of a liquid under test and emphasizes its differentiating features compared to PCB-based designs. The unique attributes of the textile-based antenna stem from its flexibility, conformability, and compatibility with various liquids.

Novel MNZ-type microwave sensor for testing magnetodielectric materials.

A novel microwave sensor with the mu-near-zero (MNZ) property is proposed for testing magnetodielectric material at 4.5 GHz. The sensor has a double-layer design consisting of a microstrip line and a metal strip with vias on layers 1 and 2, respectively. The proposed sensor can detect a unit change in relative permittivity and relative permeability with a difference in the operating frequency of 45 MHz and 78 MHz, respectively. The MNZ sensor is fabricated and assembled on two layers of Taconic RF-35 substrate, with thicknesses of 0.51 mm and 1.52 mm, respectively, for the measurement of the sample under test using a vector network analyzer. The dielectric and magnetic properties of two standard dielectric materials (Taconic CER-10 and Rogers TMM13i) and of yttrium-gadolinium iron garnet are measured at microwave frequencies. The results are found to be in good agreement with the values available in the literature, which shows the applicability of the prototype for sensing of magnetodielectric materials.

Towards mm-wave spectroscopy for dielectric characterization of breast surgical margins.

PURPOSE: The evaluation of the surgical margin in breast conservative surgery is a matter of general interest as such treatments are subject to the critical issue of margin status as positive surgical margins can undermine the effectiveness of the procedure. The relatively unexplored ability of millimeter-wave (mm-wave) spectroscopy to provide insight into the dielectric properties of breast tissues was investigated as a precursor to their possible use in assessment of surgical margins. METHODS: We assessed the ability of a mm-wave system with a roughly hemispherical sensitive volume of ∼3 mm radius to distinguish malignant breast lesions in prospectively and consecutively collected tumoral and non-tumoral ex-vivo breast tissue samples from 91 patients. We characterized the dielectric properties of 346 sites in these samples, encompassing malignant, fibrocystic disease and normal breast tissues. An expert pathologist subsequently evaluated all measurement sites. RESULTS: At multivariate analysis, mm-wave dielectric properties were significantly correlated to histologic diagnosis and fat content. Further, using 5-fold cross-validation in a Bayesian logistic mixed model that considered the patient as a random effect, the mm-wave dielectric properties of neoplastic tissues were significantly different from normal breast tissues, but not from fibrocystic tissue. CONCLUSION: Reliable discrimination of malignant from normal, fat-rich breast tissue to a depth compatible with surgical margin assessment requirements was achieved with mm-wave spectroscopy.