Millimeter-wave substrate integrated waveguide probe for near-field skin cancer detection

Millimeter-wave near-field probes have recently attracted significant attention and are regarded as a promising tool for skin cancer detection. In order to attain suitable performance, these devices rely on conventional waveguides, that make the fabrication process complicated and expensive. This work presents the design of a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) probe that overcomes the fabrication issues. The probe is excited by using a microstrip-to-SIW transition and tapered at the end in order to increase the electric field intensity on the skin surface. The operation of the probe depends on the shift in its resonance frequency based on the dielectric properties of the skin. It is capable of detecting early stage tumours as small as 0.2 mm in diameter and located in both thin and thick skin tissues.