The Polyacrylamide as a Phantom Material for Electromagnetic Hyperthermia Studies

Polyacrylamide gel is suggested as a new and convenient material for simulating the electrical behavior of biological tissues in experimental studies of heat deposition by electromagnetic means. The advantages of polyacrylamide are: 1) excellent optical transparency, 2) solid elastic, 3) easily shaped into complex forms, 4) readily prepared with a complete range of highly reproducible values of electrical parameters, which can also be combined to simulate various different tissues in complex structures. The material is also low-cost and readily available. The preparation of the material is explained and all the relevant data for obtaining the electrical properties of interest are given. The thermal behavior is also important and is investigated. Attention is concentrated onto the short-wave frequency range, where phantom studies are essential, but the possibility of using the same material at microwave frequencies is also pointed out.