An accurate analytical modeling method for microwave-based breast tumor detection and phantom manufacturing

Early detection of breast cancer significantly improves survival rates, with nearly all patients surviving for over five years. Mathematical modeling of cancerous tissue dynamics facilitates the rapid detection of tumors. This study introduces an innovative segmented hemispherical modeling approach for breast tissue, wherein the tissues are modeled as electrical capacitors with unequal plates. The structure and performance of the proposed hemispherical model are thoroughly examined. The effective permittivity,, of both individual breast tissues and the entire breast is computed using their dielectric properties. The proposed closed-form breast model is analyzed and compared with state-of-the-art methods through analytical, simulation-based, and experimental approaches. The proposed segmented hemispherical modeling technique significantly outperforms traditional cubic models, achieving substantially higher discrimination levels of 0.335 compared to 0.001 for fatty breast tissue and 0.412 compared to 0.001 for dense breast tissue. The model accurately replicates real breast anatomy and demonstrates superior efficacy in tumor detection, showing a simulated difference of 3 dB and 7 degrees in the magnitude and phase of the -parameters, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed method holds promising potential for developing an affordable and simple breast phantom fabrication method that, if adopted, could significantly facilitate research in laboratory settings. These phantoms would maintain high accuracy in replicating real breast tissue and contribute to more practical and reliable results in breast cancer detection techniques.