Crescent Antennas as Sensors: Case of Sensing Brain Pathology

Abstract

Microstrip crescent antennas offer compactness, conformability, low profile, high sensitivity, multi-band operability, cost-effectiveness and ease of fabrication in contrast to bulky, rigid horn, helical and Vivaldi antennas. This work presents crescent sensors for monitoring brain pathology associated with stroke and atrophy. Single- and multi-element crescent sensors are designed and validated by software simulations. The fabricated sensors are integrated with glasses and experimentally evaluated using a realistic brain phantom. The performance of the sensors is compared in terms of peak gain, directivity, radiation performance, flexibility and detection capability. The crescent sensors can detect the pathologies through the monitoring of backscattered electromagnetic signals that are triggered by dielectric variations in the affected tissues. The proposed sensors can effectively detect stroke and brain atrophy targets with a volume of 25 mm3 and 56 mm3, respectively. The safety of the sensors is examined through the evaluation of Specific Absorption Rate (peak SAR < 1.25 W/Kg, 100 mW), temperature increase within brain tissues (max: 0.155 °C, min: 0.115 °C) and electric field analysis. The results suggest that the crescent sensors can provide a flexible, portable and non-invasive solution to monitor degenerative brain pathology.