Open-ended Coaxial Probe Research Articles

A software tool for fabricating phantoms mimicking human tissues with designated dielectric properties and frequency.

Dielectric materials play a crucial role in assessing and refining the measurement performance of dielectric properties for specific tasks. The availability ofviable and standardized dielectric materials could greatly enhance medical applications related to dielectric properties. However, obtaining reliable phantoms with designated dielectric properties across a specified frequency range remains challenging. In this study, we propose software to easily determine the components of dielectric materials in the frequency range of 16 MHz to 3 GHz. A total of 184 phantoms were fabricated and measured using open-ended coaxial probe method. The relationship among dielectric properties, frequency, and thecomponents of dielectric materials was fitted through feedforward neural networks. Software was developed to quickly calculate the composition of dielectric materials. We performed validation experiments including blood, muscle, skin, and lung tissue phantoms at 128 MHz, 298 MHz, 915 MHz, and 2.45 GHz. Compared with literature values, the relative errors of dielectric properties are less than 15 %. This study establishes a reliable method for fabricating dielectric materials with designated dielectric properties and frequency through the development of the software. This research holds significant importance in enhancing medical research and applications that rely on tissue simulation using dielectric phantoms.

Molecular interaction studies of L-proline in water and ethanol at different temperatures using dielectric relaxation, refractive index and DFT methods

The complex dielectric permittivity of L-Proline in water and ethanol solutions with molar concentrations ranging from 0.025 M to 0.15 M was measured by open-ended coaxial probe technique. The measurements were carried out across a frequency span of 0.02 < ν/GHz < 20 and temperatures varying from 298.15 K to 323.15 K. The densities (ρ) and refractive index (nD ) of the L-proline in aqueous and ethanol solutions were also determined to provide insights into the solute-solvent interactions in the system. The Havriliak-Negami equation was employed to compute the dielectric relaxation time of the mixtures. The relaxation time of L-Proline in an ethanol medium was found to be higher than that of L-Proline in an aqueous medium due to the greater degree of self-association of ethanol molecules. Additionally, the relaxation time of the mixtures lengthened with rising molar concentration, which is attributed to the presence of hydrogen bonds among L-Proline and aqueous/ethanol molecules. The strength of the hydrogen bond interaction of L-Proline in both mediums was calculated using single-point energy calculations employing IEFPCM/PCM solvation models through DFT/B3LYP and MP2 approaches with a 6-311 G ++ (d, p) basis set. The results were correlated with the hydrogen bond strength, Gibbs’ free energy of activation parameter, and dipole-dipole interactions. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Dielectric characterisation of human adrenal glands and adrenal tumours for the development of microwave ablation technologies for hypertension treatment

Adrenal gland-induced hypertension results from underlying adrenal gland disorders including Conn’s syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, and Pheochromocytoma. These adrenal disorders are a risk for cardiovascular and renal morbidity and mortality. Clinically, treatment for adrenal gland-induced hypertension involves a pharmaceutical or surgical approach. The former presents very significant side effects whereas the latter can be ineffective in cases where the adrenal disorder reoccurs in the remaining contralateral adrenal gland. Due to the limitations of existing treatment methods, minimally invasive treatment options like microwave ablation (MWA) have received significant attention for treating adrenal gland disorders. A precise comprehension of the dielectric properties of human adrenal glands will help to tailor energy delivery for MWA therapy, thus offering the potential to optimise treatments and minimise damage to surrounding tissues. This study reports the ex vivo dielectric properties of human adrenal glands, including the cortex, medulla, capsule, and tumours, based on the data obtained from four patients (diagnosed with Conn’s syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, and Pheochromocytoma) who underwent unilateral adrenalectomy at the University Hospital Galway, Ireland. An open-ended coaxial probe measurement technique was used to measure the dielectric properties for a frequency range of 0.5–8.5 GHz. The dielectric properties were fitted using a two-pole Debye model, and a weighted least squares method was employed to optimise the model parameters. Moreover, the dielectric properties of adrenal tissues and tumours were compared across frequencies commonly used in MWA, including 915 MHz, 2.45 GHz, and 5.8 GHz. The study found that the dielectric properties of adrenal tumours were influenced by the presence of lipid-rich adenomas, and the dielectric properties of Cushing's syndrome tumour were lowest in comparison to the tumours in patients diagnosed with Conn's syndrome and Pheochromocytoma. Furthermore, a notable difference was observed in the dielectric properties of the medulla and cortex among patients diagnosed with Conn's syndrome, Cushing's syndrome, and Pheochromocytoma. These findings have significant implications for the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal tumours, including the optimisation of MWA therapy for precise ablation of adrenal masses.

Electromagnetic Characterization of EAC-1A and JSC-2A Lunar Regolith Simulants.

The development of devices for the in situ resource utilization (ISRU) of lunar surface powder (regolith) by means of microwaves needs regolith simulants with electromagnetic properties similar to the lunar regolith. This document deals with the measurement of complex permittivity and dielectric loss tangent of the aforementioned simulants at ambient temperature from 400 MHz to 20 GHz, performing measurements using two lunar dust simulants, EAC-1A and JSC-2A, resulting, on the one hand, in permittivity values of ε'=-0.0432f+4.0397 for the EAC-1A lunar dust simulant and ε'=-0.0432f+4.0397 for the JSC-2A simulant, and on the other hand, in loss tangent values of tanδe=-0.0015f+0.0659 for the EAC-1A powder and tanδe=-0.0039f+0.1429 for the JSC-2A powder. In addition, further studies are carried out taking into account the humidity of the samples and their densities at room temperature. The obtained results are applicable for comparing the measured values of EAC-1A and JSC-2A between them and with other previously measured simulants and real samples. The measurements are carried out by applying two different nonresonant techniques: Open-Ended Coaxial Probe (OECP) and transmission line. For this purpose, the DAK and EpsiMu commercial kits are used, respectively.

Using the Probability Density Function-Based Channel-Combination Bloch-Siegert Method Realizes Permittivity Imaging at 3T.

Magnetic resonance electrical properties tomography (MR EPT) can retrieve permittivity from the B1+ magnitude. However, the accuracy of the permittivity measurement using MR EPT is still not ideal due to the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of B1+ magnitude. In this study, the probability density function (PDF)-based channel-combination Bloch-Siegert (BSS) method was firstly introduced to MR EPT for improving the accuracy of the permittivity measurement. MRI experiments were performed using a 3T scanner with an eight-channel receiver coil. The homogeneous water phantom was scanned for assessing the spatial distribution of B1+ magnitude obtained from the PDF-based channel-combination BSS method. Gadolinium (Gd) phantom and rats were scanned for assessing the feasibility of the PDF-based channel-combination BSS method in MR EPT. The Helmholtz-based EPT reconstruction algorithm was selected. For quantitative comparison, the permittivity measured by the open-ended coaxial probe method was considered as the ground-truth value. The accuracy of the permittivity measurement was estimated by the relative error between the reconstructed value and the ground-truth value. The reconstructed relative permittivity of Gd phantom was 52.413, while that of rat leg muscle was 54.053. The ground-truth values of relative permittivity of Gd phantom and rat leg muscle were 78.86 and 49.04, respectively. The relative error of average permittivity was 33.53% for Gd and 10.22% for rat leg muscle. The results indicated the high accuracy of the permittivity measurement using the PDF-based channel-combination BSS method in MR EPT. This improvement may promote the clinical application of MR EPT technology, such as in the early diagnosis of cancers.

Effect of vermicompost additive on physical, chemical and dielectric properties of soil and its modeling

The present study focuses on the effects of vermicomposting on various soil properties, particularly emphasizing the dielectric characteristics of soil. Vermicomposting is known to significantly enhance soil fertility and improve its physical aspects such as aeration, porosity and water retention. In this analysis, a modified probe arrangement has been employed to determine how varying levels of vermicompost influence the soil’s dielectric properties within the radio and microwave spectrum (10 MHz-14 GHz). A modified Dak-12 open-ended coaxial probe, paired with a vector network analyzer, was utilized for this purpose to overcome the drawbacks of standard arrangement. The results show that vermicompost strongly affects the soil’s physical attributes (pH, bulk density, porosity) and also its chemical properties, along with its dielectric behavior. The study further explored the role of different factors such as the concentration of vermicompost, frequency and temperature on soil’s dielectric response. To accurately and swiftly gauge these effects, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) has been employed to predict the dielectric properties (ε’ and ε’’) of the soil. The high precision of these models, with R 2 values of 0.9729 for ε’ and 0.9487 for ε’’, underscores their effectiveness in evaluating the impact of vermicompost on various soil properties.

Dielectric properties of tidal volume changes in rabbit lung tissue in the 100 MHz~1 GHz band

This paper investigates the variation of lung tissue dielectric properties with tidal volume under in vivo conditions to provide reliable and valid a priori information for techniques such as microwave imaging. In this study, the dielectric properties of the lung tissue of 30 rabbits were measured in vivo using the open-end coaxial probe method in the frequency band of 100 MHz to 1 GHz, and 6 different sets of tidal volumes (30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 mL) were set up to study the trends of the dielectric properties, and the data at 2 specific frequency points (433 and 915 MHz) were analyzed statistically. It was found that the dielectric coefficient and conductivity of lung tissue tended to decrease with increasing tidal volume in the frequency range of 100 MHz to 1 GHz, and the differences in the dielectric properties of lung tissue for the 6 groups of tidal volumes at 2 specific frequency points were statistically significant. This paper showed that the dielectric properties of lung tissue tend to vary non-linearly with increasing tidal volume. Based on this, more accurate biological tissue parameters can be provided for bioelectromagnetic imaging techniques such as microwave imaging, which could provide a scientific basis and experimental data support for the improvement of diagnostic methods and equipment for lung diseases.

Dielectric Monitoring of Microwave Extraction Processes

Our research investigated the dielectric traceability of microwave and ultrasound intensified extraction processes of plant by-products. For the experiments, I used plant by-products from beetroot, carrot and raspberry, which were extracted in 5% suspensions. The dielectric behaviour of the extracts was investigated in the frequency range 300-2400 MHz using an open-ended coaxial probe. For both the ultrasonic and microwave intensified procedures, the reported energy was 30, 45 and 60 kJ, respectively. Based on my research results, I found that the dielectric constant measured in the frequency range 700-900 MHz is closely related to the yield of total polyphenol and pectin regardless of the feedstock and treatment used, but the method has limitations due to the presence of components that affect the physical structure and the concentration of target components below the limit of detection.

A rapid detection method for diesel content in diesel-contaminated soil based on dielectric measurement and oven-drying tests

Geophysical testing techniques have been successfully applied to identify light non-aqueous phase liquids in soils, but challenges remain in rapidly detecting contaminant content. Detection of contaminants in soil using geophysical testing techniques relies on sensors sensitive to electrical and electromagnetic parameter changes. In this study, the complex permittivity of silty clay contaminated with 0# diesel was measured using an open-ended coaxial probe at frequencies from 200–3000 MHz, and the four-phase dielectric mixing models were evaluated. The measurement results showed that the complex refractive index method (CRIM) model provided a better match with the real permittivity of the four-phase system between 500–3000 MHz with relative errors within an acceptable range of 4%. To eliminate the unknown variable in the CRIM model, an improved equation for the relationship between water content and diesel content of the watery diesel-contaminated silty clay was established by the oven-drying method. Thus, a method for the rapid quantitative detection of the diesel content in contaminated soil has been developed based on dielectric measurement and oven-drying tests. The relative error between the calculated and actual set diesel content for ten manually configured diesel-contaminated soil samples was within 10%, with a maximum error of 15.75%.

Open-Ended Coaxial Probe for Effective Reconstruction of Biopsy-Excised Tissues' Dielectric Properties.

Dielectric characterization is extremely promising in medical contexts because it offers insights into the electromagnetic properties of biological tissues for the diagnosis of tumor diseases. This study introduces a promising approach to improve accuracy in the dielectric characterization of millimeter-sized biopsies based on the use of a customized electromagnetic characterization system by adopting a coated open-ended coaxial probe. Our approach aims to accelerate biopsy analysis without sample manipulation. Through comprehensive numerical simulations and experiments, we evaluated the effectiveness of a metal-coating system in comparison to a dielectric coating with the aim for replicating a real scenario: the use of a needle biopsy core with the tissue inside. The numerical analyses highlighted a substantial improvement in the reconstruction of the dielectric properties, particularly in managing the electric field distribution and mitigating fringing field effects. Experimental validation using bovine liver samples revealed highly accurate measurements, particularly in the real part of the permittivity, showing errors lower than 1% compared to the existing literature data. These results represent a significant advancement for the dielectric characterization of biopsy specimens in a rapid, precise, and non-invasive manner. This study underscores the robustness and reliability of our innovative approach, demonstrating the convergence of numerical analyses and empirical validation.

Tracking of Bacteriophage Predation on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using a New Radiofrequency Biofilm Sensor.

Confronting the challenge of biofilm resistance and widespread antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this study emphasizes the need for innovative monitoring methods and explores the potential of bacteriophages against bacterial biofilms. Traditional methods, like optical density (OD) measurements and confocal microscopy, crucial in studying biofilm-virus interactions, often lack real-time monitoring and early detection capabilities, especially for biofilm formation and low bacterial concentrations. Addressing these gaps, we developed a new real-time, label-free radiofrequency sensor for monitoring bacteria and biofilm growth. The sensor, an open-ended coaxial probe, offers enhanced monitoring of bacterial development stages. Tested on a biological model of bacteria and bacteriophages, our results indicate the limitations of traditional OD measurements, influenced by factors like sedimented cell fragments and biofilm formation on well walls. While confocal microscopy provides detailed 3D biofilm architecture, its real-time monitoring application is limited. Our novel approach using radio frequency measurements (300 MHz) overcomes these shortcomings. It facilitates a finer analysis of the dynamic interaction between bacterial populations and phages, detecting real-time subtle changes. This method reveals distinct phases and breakpoints in biofilm formation and virion interaction not captured by conventional techniques. This study underscores the sensor's potential in detecting irregular viral activity and assessing the efficacy of anti-biofilm treatments, contributing significantly to the understanding of biofilm dynamics. This research is vital in developing effective monitoring tools, guiding therapeutic strategies, and combating AMR.

Evaluating the impact of artificial maturation on the petrophysical and geochemical properties of unconventional shale formations by integrating dielectric and NMR measurements

This paper addresses challenges in characterizing unconventional shale reservoirs. For the first time, the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and dielectric responses are integrated to characterize intact, saturated, and kerogen-rich subsurface shale samples at various maturation stages. The NMR and dielectric were measured separately using independent pieces of equipment, and all NMR and dielectric measurements were carried out at surface conditions. A comprehensive assessment is provided to address the changes induced by maturation through combined geochemical and petrophysical analyses. Shale samples from the Upper Cretaceous sequence of Jordan were characterized using Rock-Eval analysis, before and after maturation treatments. The total organic carbon (TOC) was decreased from 17.4 to 13.8 and 11.3 wt% and the pyrolyzed sulfur content was decreased from 3.32 to 0.25 and 0.15 3.18%, after maturing the samples at 250 °C for 1 and 5 days, respectively. The study employed NMR to track changes in pore structure via T2 relaxation time and measured dielectric properties and conductivity dispersion across frequencies from 10 MHz to 1 GHz using a wideband open-ended coaxial probe. After the maturation treatments, the dielectric constant of saturated shale samples doubled, and the conductivity increased by over three times. These changes in dielectric properties can be attributed to increased fluid-rock interfacial polarization and the formation of new pore spaces during maturation. NMR findings also indicated the emergence of a new pore system within the organic matter and the development of new fractures, resulting in a 6 to 12% increase in total porosity. The results obtained indicate that maturation-induced microstructural changes have a more significant influence on the dielectric responses than alterations on total organic carbon.

Development of long-range conductivity mechanisms in glass-like carbon

The conductivity mechanisms in glass-like carbon synthesised from SU-8 3005 photoresist are explored as a function of pyrolysis temperature (between 700–750 °C) utilising microwave dielectric spectroscopy techniques. Broadband measurements using an open-ended coaxial probe (BCP) are used to investigate the complex permittivity and conductivity as a function of frequency and show the development of long range conduction and sp2 carbon chain formation. Fixed frequency resonance measurements using microwave cavity perturbation (MCP) methods are shown as a way of measuring this transition and change in Q-factor without requiring contacts and therefore acting as a effective method for non-destructive and non-invasive measurements. Using these methods we show a clear change in the AC conductivity of glass-like carbon at a pyrolysis temperature of ∼730 °C and demonstrate how microwave cavity perturbation (MCP) can be used as a non-contact method of dielectric spectroscopy for determining the transition of conductivity mechanisms in glass-like carbon from short to long range and therefore as a method for non-destructive material quality control. We demonstrate that both BCP and MCP dielectric spectroscopy methods are effective at clearly detecting changes in the structure and conductivity mechanisms of glass-like carbon over a small pyrolysis temperature range.

Microwave Vertebrae Strength Probe Development: Robust and Fast Phase Unwrapping Technique.

We have developed a new transmission-based, open-ended coaxial probe for assessing vertebrae strength during spinal fusion surgery. The approach exploits the fact that the probes are within the far field of each other implying that the phase varies linearly with respect to propagation distance. Determining the absolute phase is critical for recovering the associated tissue dielectric properties from which bone strength will be determined. Unfortunately, unwanted multi-path signals corrupt the signals at the lower end of the operating frequency range from which our conventional unwrapping strategy depends. Our new approach requires only three measurements within the prime frequency range and can be determined robustly with a minimum of computations. This will be vital to developing a commercial device since the signal levels will be extremely low power requiring longer than usual data acquisition times, which will be mitigated by measuring the data at only a few frequencies. Fast and efficient operation will be critical for clinical success.

Dielectric Characterization of Ex-Vivo Breast Tissues: Differentiation of Tumor Types through Permittivity Measurements.

Early analysis and diagnosis of breast tumors is essential for either quickly launching a treatment or for seeing the evolution of patients who, for instance, have already undergone chemotherapy treatment. Once tissues are excised, histological analysis is the most frequent tool used to characterize benign or malignant tumors. Dielectric microwave spectroscopy makes use of an open-ended coaxial probe in the 1-8 GHz frequency range to quickly identify the type of tumor (ductal carcinoma, lobular carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma and fibroadenoma). The experiment was undertaken with data from 70 patients who had already undergone chemotherapy treatment, which helped to electrically map the histological tissues with their electric permittivity. Thus, the variations in the permittivity of different types of tumors reveal distinctive patterns: benign tumors have permittivity values lower than 35, while malignant ones range between 40 and 60. For example, at a frequency of 2 GHz, the measured permittivity was 45.6 for ductal carcinoma, 33.1 for lobular carcinoma, 59.5 for mucinous carcinoma, and 27.6 for benign tumors. This differentiation remains consistent in a frequency range of 1 to 4.5 GHz. These results highlight the effectiveness of these measurements in the classification of breast tumors, providing a valuable tool for quick and accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.

Microwave dielectric characterization studies of PVDF-TrFE-Nafion blended films

The solution-based casting method fabricates the free-standing pure PVDF-TrFE, PVDF-TrFE-Nafion blended films and tests them for structural, morphological, and microwave studies. The X-ray diffraction pattern and FTIR spectrum confirmed the formation of the ferroelectric β-phase of PVDF-TrFE. The surface morphology of blended films is studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and noticeable changes in the morphological features are observed in the blended films resulting from the differences in the nucleation process in these films. Then using the open-ended coaxial probe method, the complex permittivity measurements were carried out over a large frequency range, from 0.5 GHz to 50 GHz. These results were verified with the Transmission-Reflection method using a rectangular waveguide in the X-band and Ku-band frequency range. The microwave absorption properties of the blends are also studied in the same frequency range. The stability of the dielectric properties and low microwave absorption indicates that the blending of PVDF-TrFE with Nafion results in a new potential material for high frequency flexible capacitor applications.

Phantom evaluation of electrical conductivity mapping by MRI: Comparison to vector network analyzer measurements and spatial resolution assessment.

To evaluate the performance of various MR electrical properties tomography (MR-EPT) methods at 3 T in terms of absolute quantification and spatial resolution limit for electrical conductivity. Absolute quantification as well as spatial resolution performance were evaluated on homogeneous phantoms and a phantom with holes of different sizes, respectively. Ground-truth conductivities were measured with an open-ended coaxial probe connected to a vector network analyzer (VNA). Four widely used MR-EPT reconstruction methods were investigated: phase-based Helmholtz (PB), phase-based convection-reaction (PB-cr), image-based (IB), and generalized-image-based (GIB). These methods were compared using the same complex images from a 1 mm-isotropic UTE sequence. Alternative transceive phase acquisition sequences were also compared in PB and PB-cr. In large homogeneous phantoms, all methods showed a strong correlation with ground truth conductivities (r > 0.99); however, GIB was the best in terms of accuracy, spatial uniformity, and robustness to boundary artifacts. In the resolution phantom, the normalized root-mean-squared error of all methods grew rapidly (>0.40) when the hole size was below 10 mm, with simplified methods (PB and IB), or below 5 mm, with generalized methods (PB-cr and GIB). VNA measurements are essential to assess the accuracy of MR-EPT. In this study, all tested MR-EPT methods correlated strongly with the VNA measurements. The UTE sequence is recommended for MR-EPT, with the GIB method providing good accuracy for structures down to 5 mm. Structures below 5 mm may still be detected in the conductivity maps, but with significantly lower accuracy.

Microwave Frequency Dependent Dielectric Properties of Blood as a Potential Technique to Measure Hydration

Tissue dehydration is known to have adverse effects on health and is highly challenging to characterize in vitro due to the complexity of the cell/tissue organisation. There have been a large number of studies reporting the dielectric properties of animal and human tissue explants or bodily fluids such as urine or blood over a wide frequency range from 10 Hz to 100 GHz. However, variations in blood composition involving the cell type, haematocrit (HCT) protein levels, ionic conductivity, electrolyte or glucose concentration will affect the dielectric measurements. The present study examined the effects of physiological osmotic solutions with NaCl (280 mOsmol/kg to 300 mOsmol/kg), HCT (35% to 50%) and albumin (3.5 g/dl to 5.5 g/dl) isolated from bovine blood on the dielectric properties measured at frequencies spanning from 0.5 GHz to 20 GHz using an open-ended co-axial probe. Measurements demonstrated linear correlations between permittivity and loss factor of blood solutions with varying HCT levels, albumin or osmolality such that a high protein concentration reduced the dielectric response in a dose-dependent manner. Whilst the spectral trends for the permittivity response to HCT and albumin were similar in a concentration-dependent manner, the loss factor profile was influenced by osmolality of the solution. In summary, we characterized the dependence of the microwave dielectric properties of blood on HCT, albumin and osmolality. The dielectric measurement technique has the potential to determine hydration levels for future diagnostic and therapeutic devices.

A Simplified Formulation of the Reflection Coefficient of an Open-Ended Coaxial Probe in Multilayered Media

A Simplified Formulation of the Reflection Coefficient of an Open-Ended Coaxial Probe in Multilayered Media

Low-cost portable dielectric spectrometer based on mini-vector network analyzer and open-ended coaxial probe technology

Low-cost portable dielectric spectrometer based on mini-vector network analyzer and open-ended coaxial probe technology