ANALYSIS AND OPTIMIZATION OF WAVE-GUIDE MULTIAPPLICATOR HYPERTHERMIA SYSTEMS

A method is proposed for determining the excitation coefficients of an antenna array operating in a large rectangular waveguide and used as a hyperthermia system. The excitation coefficients of the array elemen ts are optimized for attaining an improved specific absorption rate (S AR) distribution around a deep-seated tumor. The method is applied to a two-dimensional problem of a piecewise homogeneous post in a wavegui de representing a section of the human torso. The array is operating b elow the cutoff frequency of the dominant mode of the waveguide. Numer ical simulations have been performed to check the effectiveness of thi s approach. The results show that by using the proposed optimization m ethod, SAR distributions can be improved.