Preliminary investigations of magnetic modulated nanoparticles for microwave breast cancer detection

This paper investigates the potential of magnetic modulated iron oxide nanoparticles in terms of a contrast enhancement for Ultra-wideband (UWB) breast imaging. The work is motivated by the low dielectric contrast between tumor and normal glandular/fibroconnective tissue. The influence of an external polarizing magnetic field on pure and coated magnetite nanoparticles is investigated in this contribution. Measurements were conducted using M-sequence UWB technology and an oil-gelatin phantom. It is shown that a coating, which is necessary for clinical use, results in a lower signal response, and thus leads to a lower detectability of magnetic modulated nanoparticles.