A sensitivity study for microwave breast cancer detection using the Contrast-Source Integral Equation and realistic anthropomorphic numerical 3-D phantoms

In this paper, a sensitivity study aimed to evaluate how the field scattered by a malignant tumor is influenced by the operation frequency f_o of the microwave tomographic diagnostic system, and by the permittivity {ϵ}_f of the matching fluid, is presented. The study has been carried out exploiting accurate anthropomorphic numerical breast phantoms in conjunction with the Contrast Source Integral Equation. Numerical results provide useful insights towards an optimal choice of these parameters able to enhance the cancer's detectability.