SAR Analysis Using Various Substrates of Microstrip Antenna for Breast Cancer Hyperthermia Treatment

Abstract

Hyperthermia is an alternative technique used to treat breast cancer using high heat, around 41°C to 45°C, to denature cancer tissue into necrotic tissue. It can work independently or in adjuvant with other conventional methods. The design of an antenna with a suitable substrate is essential for the applicator to transmit maximal heat to the intended area and distribute the heat uniformly on the treated tissues. Therefore, the inset feed microstrip antenna is design with five different substrates, simulated, analyzed, and their performance is compared to get the best substrate. The substrates used include Rogers Duroid RT5880, Rogers RO4003, FR4, Alumina and Rogers RO3010. SEMCAD X 14.8.4 software is used to design, simulate and generate SAR. RT5880 and RO4003 show better SAR distribution and focus position distance (FPD), which can be further examined for future research. 2450 MHz, 915 MHz and 434 MHz frequencies are compared to find the most suitable frequency to apply with the applicator. A 915 MHz frequency shows better performance which can penetrate more toward the cancerous areas. However, there are several deficiencies such as difficulty in controlling FPD, wide unwanted hotspot and massive skin burn problem, that needs to be improved to provide less adverse health effects due to the execution of hyperthermia treatment. The selection of suitable substrates can help reduce the deficiencies and improve the effectiveness of the hyperthermia technique. The estimated period is within 2 hours to 3.6 hours to achieve sufficient heating to destroy the cancerous cells.