Microwave antenna for cancer detection system
US6061589A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 9, 1997 |
| Grant date | May 9, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 9, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B6/502
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A microwave antenna for use in a system for detecting an incipient tumor in living tissue such as that of a human breast in accordance with differences in relative dielectric characteristics. In the system a generator produces a non-ionizing electromagnetic input wave of preselected frequency, usually exceeding three gigahertz, and that input wave is used to irradiate a discrete volume in the living tissue with a non-ionizing electromagnetic wave. The illumination location is shifted in a predetermined scanning pattern. Scattered signal returns from the living tissue are collected and processed to segregate skin tissue scatter and to develop a segregated backscatter or return wave signal; that segregated signal, in turn, is employed to detect any anomaly indicative of the presence of a tumor or other abnormality in the scanned living tissue. The present invention is directed to a composite Maltese Cross or bow-tie antenna construction employed to irradiate the living tissue and to collect backscatter or other scatter returns.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.