A High-Stability and High-Sensitivity Active Sensor for Non-Invasive Breast Cancer Detection

A high-stability active sensor for high-resolution and high-sensitivity breast tumor detection in the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) band is presented in this paper. The core resonator used is a high-sensitivity Open Complementary Split-Ring Resonator (OCSRR) with an active feedback loop for enhanced resolution. An analysis of the stability of the proposed active sensor has been performed based on the Normalized Determinant Function (NDF) to avoid oscillation start-up at undesired frequencies. A prototype of this sensor has been manufactured and tested with a multi-layered phantom which mimics the breast dielectric properties.