Breast Cancer Detection via Microwave Imaging

The goal of this project is to build an integrated microwave imaging system for the early detection of breast cancer. The system uses a UWB Vivaldi antenna with an operating bandwidth of 2 GHz - 6 GHz to detect and localize tumors. The prototype hardware will consist of two Vivaldi antennas (one as

Project Title

Breast Cancer Detection via Microwave Imaging

Project Area of Specialization

Biomedical Engineering

Project Summary

The goal of this project is to build an integrated microwave imaging system for the early detection of breast cancer. The system uses a UWB Vivaldi antenna with an operating bandwidth of 2 GHz - 6 GHz to detect and localize tumors. The prototype hardware will consist of two Vivaldi antennas (one as a transmitter and one as a receiver) to send non-ionizing microwaves and measure the scattering signal from the target. The project also involves the development of a phantom (to mimic the dielectric properties of the breast) with a high contrast object emulating the tumor placed inside it. The high contrast object emulating the tumor characteristics has a higher dielectric constant as compared to healthy tissue cells. The scattered signals from the high contrast object are measured using a vector network analyzer and will be processed through an open-source imaging algorithm known as Microwave Radar-based Imaging Toolbox (MERIT). The proposed system is a practical example of UWB Antennas-based medical imaging.

Project Objectives

• To design efficient systems with low false-positive and false-negative rates.
• To design an eco-friendly and cost efficient system.
• To increase awareness about breaast cancer and the importrance of early detection especially among females.
• To use non-ionizing microwaves which can penetrate human tissues without any health hazards even after long time exposure.
• To highlight the importance of microwave imaging that can be applied to scan other human organs as well like the brain.
   

Project Implementation Method

Figure 1 shows the hardware setup of the proposed project. Our project setup will consist of two Vivaldi antennas (selected due to their directivity and wide-band properties.) that are attached to a NEMA 23 stepper motors (NEMA 23, 2.2A) via a rod (made of material that does not affect the conductance of the antenna).
Each motor is driven by a driver IC Tb6560 (3A, 12-24V). The motor rotates the antenna along the circumference of the target phantom (which will mimic the characteristics of normal breast tissue) to capture the scattering parameters. An Arduino Mega is used as a controller to control the motor assembly. The scattering parameters are measured using a VNA (2-port, 100 kHz – 18 GHz) and are processed through an image reconstruction program built on an open-source imaging algorithm MERIT for image reconstruction.

Benefits of the Project

• Inexprnsive and efficient.
• Uses non-ionizing microwaves, which are harmless to human tissues.
• Cheaper alternative to X-ray and MRI.
• Can detect tumors as small as 5mm.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The main function of the hardware is to rotate the transmitting and receiving antenna around the circumference of the phantom. Following are its deliverables.

Vivaldi Antenna: Vivaldi antenna is a type of PCB printed antenna which is known for its broad-band frequency range and directivity. Keeping in view the requirements of our project, we designed, simulated, and fabricated two Vivaldi antennas to use as transmitter and receiver. Our Vivaldi antennas are fabricated using FR-4 substrate with a dielectric constant of 4.

Stepper Motor: To rotate the transmitter and receiver around the target, two stepper motors namely Nema 23 and Nema 17 stepper motors are used. These motors support micro-step revolution allowing us to precisely control the position of the of the antennas and direct the rotation of each antenna. The motors are attached to supporting structures, which are mostly 3-D printed, holding both the transmitter and receiver in their respective position.

TB6560 Driver IC: TB6560 Driver IC is a PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation) chopper-type stepping motor driver IC designed for sinusoidal-input micro-step control of bipolar stepping motors. TB6560 are used to control the rotation and direction of Nema 23 and Nema 17 stepper motors which is turn control the transmitter and receiver antenna respectively.

Arduino Uno (Micro-controller): Arduino UNO is the micro-controller which is being used with configuration with TB650 Driver IC. It is used to program the driver IC and is enabling the whole system to automatedly be controlled.  

Vector Network Analyser: Vector Network Analyser (VNA) allows us to take readings and take the values of the s-parameters of the target phantom.  The VNA is attached to the antennas and is also the source of Rf power. It is a very expensive device, fortunately, the university has allowed us to use theirs. (Hence will not be added to the expenditure list).

Breast Phantom: For testing of designed system, we have designed various phantoms which are basically decoys mimicking to dielectric properties of a human breast. After extensive literature review, we identified common items (such as petroleum jelly, castor oil, wheat, water etc.) that can be used to create a mixture which approximately has the same profile as human breast tissues. Based on this, we created three different phantom models:

• Homogeneous Phantom
• Heterogeneous Phantom
• 3-D printed Phantom

3D-printed components:  To complete our hardware system, we designed a motor assembly that will allow the steppers motors to rotate the transmitter and receiver antennas. This motor assembly mostly contains parts that are 3-D printed and were designed using Fusion 360. Its also contains ball bearings and other components.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Core Industry

Health

Other Industries

Medical

Core Technology

Others

Other Technologies

Artificial Intelligence(AI), 3D/4D Printing

Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health and Well-Being for People, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com