Multi-functional phantom model to validate microwave sensors for health monitoring applications

Microwave based biomedical sensors can monitor the changes in the dielectric parameters of materials it interacts with. In the physiological realm, there are many dynamics happening during stages such as, bedridden, medical rehabilitation and physical training. The dynamics involve the change in tissue mass and its construct, which will make variations in their dielectric properties. Thus, microwaves sensors are potential candidates in rehabilitation and can provide feedbacks on physical exercises. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this data is not yet well correlated to diseases or health conditions. To facilitate the development of biomedical microwave sensors, phantoms emulating the temporal variations in dielectric properties of human tissues during medical rehabilitation process are necessary. In this paper a leg phantom model for the development of lower extremity trauma / femur fracture rehabilitation microwave sensor is presented. The load bearing capacity of the extremity is compromised when a patient sustains femur fracture and that can affect his/her fat, muscle or bone density over time. The proposed phantom has the versatility to represent the dielectric property variations representing the time scaled tissue variations during the intermediate stages of rehabilitation. Since the microwave sensors are being developed in 1-5 GHz frequency range, the phantom is also characterized corresponding to the reported literature data in that range.