Dielectric properties and water contents of biological tissue after microwave heating

In this study, the relationship between the water content ratio [wt%] and the dielectric properties of the dehydrated liver tissues were measured. Employing the results of this study, the numerical dielectric model of dehydrated liver tissue will be developed for the numerical analysis of microwave coagulation therapy (MCT) for liver cancer. Small pieces of swine liver tissue were heated and dehydrated in the household microwave oven to make measurement samples with low water content ratios. The dielectric constants (relative permittivity and conductivity [S/m]) of samples at 2.45 GHz were measured by the open-ended coaxial probe technique. After the measurement of dielectric constants, water content ratios of samples were measured by the loss on drying (LOD) technique. As a result, the relative permittivity and the conductivity of samples strongly depended on water content ratios of them.