An Economical Method for Modeling, Fabrication, Testing, and Characterization of a Bio-phantom for Pulmonary Edema

Cardiac pulmonary edema is a disorder that causes an accumulation of fluid in the lungs as a result of heart problems. It is a life-threatening illness that may lead to congestive heart failure, medical emergencies, and even death. The fluid build-up in the lungs affects its dielectric properties mostly through permittivity changes. This correlation between lung tissue water content and dielectric characteristics can be exploited in diagnostic systems. Microwave technology is a cutting-edge and emerging alternative way for continuous monitoring of pulmonary edema. To develop diagnostic systems for pulmonary edema using microwave technology, a phantom that replicates the dielectric properties of the human torso is essential. The human torso has a complex layered structure consisting of epidermal skin, subcutaneous fat, and numerous layers of muscles and critical organs like the heart and lungs. In this paper, an affordable semi-solid gelatin-based layered phantom is proposed and fabricated to model skin, fat, and muscle layers. In addition, a microstrip ring resonator is modeled, simulated, and fabricated to verify the dielectric constant of each manufactured phantom layer. Finally, the torso phantom, formed by stacking the tissue layers, is validated against existing models in the literature.