A miniaturized UWB stepped‐slot antenna for medical diagnostic imaging

A novel compact planar UWB stepped-slot antenna optimized for medical diagnostics is presented in this article. This antenna can be placed directly on the skin to allow more energy to be radiated into the human body for obtaining a stronger signal for processing. The design of the antenna is based on the differential feed for two symmetrical-elliptically shaped monopoles, where the radiation direction of the main beam is found to be very stable over a broad frequency range due to the phase center being in the middle of the antenna, as shown in the results. The stepped-slot design enables a further miniaturization of the size and enhancement in the bandwidth. Characterization of the antenna is done from 1 to 9 GHz on a phantom emulating the human body, where the antenna gain and near E-field are investigated. The performance of the antenna is then verified using a near-field measurement setup. With features such as a very small size, low operational frequency, stable phase center over the whole operated frequency range and high front-to-back ratio, this design shows a high potential for applications for the detection of breast cancer, stroke in human brain and other relevant medical diagnostics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 55:105–109, 2013; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/mop.27222