The complex permittivity of biological tissues : a practical measurement guideline

Abstract

Despite the significant number of studies published on the measurements of complex permittivity of biological tissues in the last thirty years, implementing a successful measurement program for dielectric measurements can still present a challenge for researchers. Most problems are not theoretical but of methodological or practical nature. In this article, lessons learned from experiences with goal-oriented measurements are presented by structuring them into practical guidelines for efficient and useful measurements of dielectric properties of biological tissues, aimed at addressing gaps in knowledge. Issues related to calibration, validation of the measurement system and data collection procedures are addressed from a practical perspective. This will help support reproducibility of measurements. In addition, guidelines for data analysis and data reporting are provided. The latter is also supported by a data analysis tool developed in MATLAB, made available as open source. This facilitates the harmonisation and merging of different datasets, ease of interpreting and re-using of data and comparison of data across studies. Additionally, a data repository is presented for uploading of dielectric data of biological tissues, along with the corresponding meta-data describing the experiments. These guidelines are the result of the work carried out by a dedicated working group in the project COST Action MyWAVE.