ABSTRACT
Design and experimental verification of a phased array (PA) of 434 MHz water-loaded cavity-backed patch antennas is presented for hyperthermia treatment (HT) of locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). A staggered annular array of 18 antennas distributed across three rings with 6 antennas per ring and 40 mm ring spacing is presented for HT. The applicator performance is assessed on three layered breast models of varying volumes (105 – 1025 ) with 64 tumor target at three different locations in the individual breast model, and an anatomically realistic patient model with LABC (46 ) in the upper outer quadrant. HT indicators for the optimized applicator indicated average power absorption ratio () ≥3.93 and 10.48, and hotspot to target quotient (HTQ) ≤1.34 and 1.08 in the large and small breast models, respectively. and HTQ was 6.14 and 1.23 in the anatomically realistic model, respectively. Temperature rise of 6.04 ºC, 6.55 ºC, and 5.5 ºC measured for centered and two off-centered tumor locations in the phantom for 20 min heating, respectively were in excellent agreement with the simulations without any significant healthy tissue hotspots.