On the design of exposure systems for medical applications of microwaves

Microwave exposure devices based on conformal array configurations are exploited in biomedical applications for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. In this framework, one important aspect, which is worth to be addressed, is the minimization of the number of adopted probes. As a matter of fact, this would allow to minimize costs and dimensions of the system, as well as measurement time, in the diagnostic case. In this communication, we generalize a methodology recently proposed by the authors to design optimal devices for magnetic nanoparticles enhanced microwave imaging of breast cancer and show how to exploit it to optimize exposure systems in several cases, such as diagnosis, follow up and therapy monitoring. In particular, a hemispherical configuration is herein analyzed, which is relevant to applications involving anatomical structures like the breast or the head.