2026
IEEE J ELECTROMAG RF 2026 May 06. DOI: 10.1109/JERM.2026.3682651
Melanoma Dielectric Properties From 2 to 18 GHz
School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Nedlands, WA, Australia
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Abstract
Microwave technology has recently garnered interest for its potential to evaluate and characterise malignancies based on the inherent dielectric contrast that exists between healthy and diseased tissues. However, investigations into the dielectric properties of skin cancers over microwave frequency ranges is incomplete, with a significant gap in data concerning the dielectric characteristics of melanoma over broad frequencies identified in existing literature. In this research, measurements were conducted on freshly excised subcutaneous B16 mice melanoma samples, reporting on the dielectric properties of melanoma over the 2 - 18 GHz frequency range. Measured parameters were fit to a single-pole Cole-Cole model, thus reporting the dielectric properties of ex-vivo B16 melanoma over a wideband frequency range for the first time. Reported properties can be used to inform the design of dielectrically accurate melanoma phantoms essential for testing of microwave detection devices. The longevity of these samples was also investigated, with statistically significant differences in measured properties being observed within days after excision, highlighting that the validity of ex-vivo melanoma samples is dependent on the time between excision and measurement.
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