article · IEEE Access
A wearable breast cancer detection system integrates flexible antenna-based sensors into a bra. Built on a flexible printed circuit board Roger substrate with a thickness of 0.17 millimetres, each compact coplanar waveguide monopole antenna sensor measures 24 by 45 millimetres. The sensors provide an operating bandwidth from 1.5 to 8 gigahertz and maintain a specific absorption rate of 0.75 watts per kilogram, confirming compliance with biological safety levels. An array of four sensor elements positioned around realistic medical rubber breast phantoms gathers scattering parameter data under varied tumour configurations. Machine learning models, specifically the CatBoost algorithm, process these scattering parameters to identify and characterise internal tumours. Simulations and physical measurements confirm the operational viability of the system and define the sensor array layout for tumour scanning.
Early detection of breast cancer is vital for improving clinical outcomes and patient survival rates. Developing comfortable, non-invasive wearable screening tools can facilitate continuous or frequent monitoring without relying solely on hospital-based imaging equipment. Demonstrating safe radiation absorption levels alongside machine learning analysis provides a functional basis for expanding regular, accessible screening methods into everyday garments.
This technology addresses wearable healthcare and non-invasive oncology screening, with potential application by medical device manufacturers and diagnostic service providers. The system is at an applied laboratory stage, having been validated only on synthetic rubber phantoms and simulations. Progressing towards commercial use will require transitioning from phantom studies to human clinical trials, securing medical regulatory approvals, and packaging the supporting measurement hardware into an autonomous wearable product.
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Wearable devices are currently of great importance in developing health management and care applications and devices especially for early breast cancer detection (BCD). This is supported by the novel innovations in materials and techniques to construct highly accurate and comfortable biosensors for wearables. In this paper, the proposed flexible sensor is integrated with a Bra to realize a wearable breast cancer detection system. The proposed antenna-based sensor is composed of a CPW monopole antenna with an overall compact size of 24 × 45 mm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> on flexible PCB Roger substrate with thickness 0.17 mm. The proposed sensors have enough bandwidth from 1.5 to 8 GHz at -6 dB reflection coefficient and conformal structure for biological structures and biocompatibility. The specific absorption rate (SAR) has been calculated and measured for the proposed sensor with a value of 0.75 W/kg at 0 dBm to ensure safety level. For testing, real shaped rubber phantoms from medical school enables the dynamic combination of breast and tumor to create test scenarios for breast cancer detection. 2×2 antenna-based sensors elements are placed around the breast phantom to gather data on scattering parameters for tumor characterization. Several simulation and measurement scenarios are presented to validate detection, optimum number of sensors to be used as well as training data for developed detection algorithms. Artificial intelligence techniques are used among which the CAT-Boost technique for scanning collected data and identifying the undesired tumor component inside the breast.
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DOI: 10.1109/access.2024.3380453
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