2-D FDTD study of fixed-focus elliptical reflector system for breast cancer detection: frequency window for optimum operation

We have previously reported investigations of a novel pulsed confocal microwave system for detection of breast tumors (Hagness et al., 1997). In this paper, we extend this work by identifying a frequency window for optimum operation of the tumor detection system. The finite difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to study a simplified 2-D breast-tissue geometry adjacent to an elliptical reflector antenna. First, power density results are presented to demonstrate the focusing abilities of the reflector antenna for sinusoid excitation at 3, 6 and 9 GHz. Second, a tumor located at the in-breast focus of the antenna is included in the geometry in order to observe the pulse response of the detector as a function of the tumor size at center frequencies of 3, G and 9 GHz.