# Fabrication and Dielectric Characterization of Stable Oil in Gelatin Breast Tissue Phantoms for Microwave Biomedical Imaging

## TL;DR

This paper describes the creation of stable breast tissue models for microwave imaging to detect breast cancer early.

## Contribution

A novel oil-in-gelatin phantom fabrication method that provides long-term stability and accurate dielectric contrast for microwave imaging validation.

## Key findings

- Phantoms showed significant dielectric contrast among normal, benign, and malignant tissue types.
- Phantoms remained stable for up to six months under controlled storage conditions.
- FTIR, DSC, and TGA confirmed structural and thermal properties of the phantoms.

## Abstract

Breast tissue-mimicking phantoms are essential tools for validating microwave imaging systems designed for early breast cancer detection. In this work, we report the fabrication and comprehensive characterization of oil-in-gelatin phantoms emulating normal, benign, and malignant breast tissues. The phantoms were manufactured with controlled mixtures of kerosene, safflower oil, and gelatin, and their dielectric properties were experimentally evaluated using a free-space transmission method with a Vector Network Analyzer across the 100 MHz–10 GHz range. Results demonstrated significant contrast in permittivity and conductivity among the different tissue types, consistent with values reported in the literature. Long-term stability was confirmed for up to six months under controlled storage. Additional structural and thermal characterization was performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), providing insight into molecular composition and thermal response. The proposed method enables reproducible, low-cost, and stable phantom fabrication, offering reliable tissue models to support experimental validation and optimization of microwave-based breast cancer detection systems.