Double Ridge Conical Horn Antenna with Dielectric Loading for Microwave Imaging of Human Breast

Abstract

This work describes a compact Double Ridge Conical Horn (DRCH) antenna utilized for ultra-wideband (UWB) Microwave Imaging (MI) applications. The proposed DRCH is appended with a dielectric lens to improve its radiation performance. The proposed antenna achieves a bandwidth from 3.4 GHz to around 20 GHz with good impedance matching. The designed antenna attains a peak gain of 25.22 dBi at 19 GHz. The applicability of the proposed antenna for microwave imaging applications is tested by checking its Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value. Finally, the proposed antenna is used to image breast tumours in a planar breast phantom with a reduced Delay and Sum (DAS) algorithm.