This paper presents a conformal and biodegradable circularly polarized microwave sensor (CPMS) that can be utilized in several medical applications. The proposed textile sensor can be implemented in a Smart Bra system for breast cancer detection (BCD) and a wireless body area network (WBAN). The proposed sensor is composed of a wideband circularly polarized (CP) textile-based monopole antenna with an overall size of 33.5 × 33.5 mm2 (0.2 λo × 0.2 λo) and CPW feed line. The radiating element and ground are fabricated using silver conductive fabric and stitched to a cotton substrate of thickness 2 mm. In the proposed design, a slot is etched in the radiating element to extend bandwidth from 1.8 to 8 GHz at |S11| ≤ -10 dB. It realizes a circularly polarized output with AR ≤ 3 dB operation band from 1.8 to 4 GHz and an average gain of 6 dBi. The proposed CPMS's performance is studied both off-body (air) and on-body in proximity to breast models with and without tumors using near-field microwave imaging. Moreover, the axial ratio is recorded as a feature for a circularly polarized antenna and adds another degree of freedom for cancer detection and data analysis. It assists in detecting tumors in the breast by analyzing the magnitude of the electric field components in vertical and horizontal directions. Finally, the radiation properties are recorded, as well as the specific absorption rate (SAR), to ensure safe operation. The proposed CPMS covers a bandwidth of 1.8-8 GHz with SAR values following the 1 g and 10 g standards. The proposed work demonstrates the feasibility of using textile antennas in wearables, microwave sensing systems, and wireless body area networks (WBANs).
Keywords: axial ratio (AR); breast cancer detection (BCD); breast phantoms; circularly polarized (CP); microwave imaging; smart bra; textile antennas; tumor detection; wireless body area network (WBAN).