2020 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD)

27-28 September 2020, Johor, Malaysia

Design of Flexible Microstrip Patch Antenna using

Rubber Substrate for Brain Tumor Detection
Ahmad Alhadi Ruslan Sarah Yasmin Mohamad Norun Farihah Abdul Malek
Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering,
Kulliyyah of Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering,
International Islamic University International Islamic University International Islamic University
Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia
ahmadalhadiruslan@gmail.com smohamad@iium.edu.my norun@iium.edu.my

Siti Hajar Yusoff Siti Noorjannah Ibrahim Farah Nadia Mohd Isa
Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering,
Kulliyyah of Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering, Kulliyyah of Engineering,
International Islamic University International Islamic University International Islamic University
Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia
sitiyusoff@iium.edu.my noorjannah@iium.edu.my farahn@iium.edu.my

Abstract — This paper discusses and compare the performance
of microstrip patch antenna with different substrates to be used
for Brain Tumor Detection. The comparison of the antenna
performance between natural rubber, rubber with 20% carbon
filler, rubber with 25% carbon filler and rubber with 50%
carbon filler are executed in this paper. The parameters that are
being compared includes the antenna return loss. gain and
bandwidth. The performance of the antennas is boost by
applying circular electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structure on
the antenna ground plane. Since the propose antenna is intended
for Brain Imaging Application, the Specific Absorption Rate
(SAR) performance is measured. The SAR simulation for each
antenna is performed on a circular human head phantom model
with six layers of bio tissue. The SAR results are then compared
with the standard SAR limit defined for human head for safety
purposes.
Keywords— brain tumor detection, electromagnetic band gap
(EBG), flexible antenna, rubber with carbon filler, SAR
I. INTRODUCTION
Brain tumor is one of the fatal diseases that could lead to
death. As per mentioned by [1], out of the total people
diagnosed with the most assertive type of brain cancer, which
is glioblastoma, more than 66.67% will face death in 2 years
of diagnosis. [1] also claimed that brain tumor treatment is
also challenging due to the biological characteristics of cancer.
Statistical study provided by [2] indicates that 47.59 out of
100000 populations are diagnosed with brain tumor in 2010.
As stated by [3], the root causes of the brain tumors remain
unknown. Detection of the brain tumors can be performed by
several methods such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
computed tomography scan (CT scan), biopsy, ultrasound and
x-ray mammography [4]. Nowadays, as the technology growth
in a significant rate, the Microwave Imaging are being
proposed to be used instead of the conventional way like the
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed
tomography (CT) scan. Patch antenna is often used in brain
imaging due to several advantages such as being non-invasive,
compact in size, have a low profile and cost efficient [5].
Since the conventional patch antenna is rigid and non-flexible,
a further improvement has been suggested by using a flexible
substrate in designing the antenna. This improvement could
increase the durability and flexibility of the patch antenna.
Researchers proposed a few types of flexible substrate such as
Kapton Polyimide film, rubber, RO3003 and PDMS to replace
the rigid and non-flexible substrate. For example, authors in
[6] used RO3003 as the substrate of the patch antenna for
brain tumor detection. Another paper by [7] proposed Kapton
Polyimide to be used as the substrate of the antenna for breast
cancer detection. These mentioned papers claimed their
proposed flexible antenna can be used to replace the rigid
antenna with good performance. Even though the performance
of the antenna is good and has additional advantages of being
flexible, the proposed substrate is hardly available and not
cost-efficient.
This paper proposed a more cost-efficient flexible
substrate with high market availability. The antenna with
rubber substrate is intended to be used for brain tumor
detection which resonates at 7.3 GHz. In addition, the antenna
is designed with circular electromagnetic band gap (EBG)
implemented on the ground plane to increase the operating
bandwidth and maximize the performance of the antenna, as
per claimed by [6]. The performance parameters that were
considered include gain, return loss and bandwidth of the
antenna. On top of that, this paper also presented the use of
rubber-carbon composite as the substrate for the patch
antenna. As per claimed by [8], adding the carbon fillers to
rubber can further increase the performance of the patch

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 2020 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD)
27-28 September 2020, Johor, Malaysia

antenna. 3 different carbon concentration for the rubber- ఌೝ ାଵ ఌೝ ିଵ ଵ

ߝ௘௙௙ ൌ  ൅ ሺ ሻ (2)
carbon composite were used in our work which are 20%, 25% ଶ ଶ ටଵା
భమ౞
౭
and 50%. The information on the composites are taken from
the studies and researches done by [8] and [9]. In the end, the Where ݄= substrate height. The patch length is calculated
flexible antenna with the best performances were selected and using equation in (3):
proposed to be used for brain tumor detection.
‫ ܮ‬ൌ  ‫ܮ‬௘௙௙ െ ʹο‫ܮ‬ (3)
Since the patch antenna is intended to be used for medical
Where ‫ܮ‬௘௙௙ = effective length calculated in (4) and ο =
applications, the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) was also
length extension calculated in (5):
considered to ensure that the antenna complied to the
ୡ
regulation rule. Six layers of human head phantom model ‫ܮ‬௘௙௙ ൌ  (4)
ଶ௙ೝ ඥఌ೐೑೑
were constructed and used for the SAR simulation. The
information on the bio tissues for the six layered human head ೢ
൫க೐೑೑ ା଴Ǥଷ൯ቀ ೓ ା଴Ǥଶ଺ସቁ
phantom model is taken from paper proposed by [10]. As per ο‫ ܮ‬ൌ  ೢ (5)
൫க೐೑೑ ି଴Ǥଶହ଼൯ቀ ା଴Ǥ଼ቁ
೓
mentioned in [5], the SAR limit for human head defined by
ICNIRP and FCC guidelines is 1.6W/kg for 1-gram mass Fig. 1 shows the optimized design of the flexible
averaged SAR. The SAR value simulated must not exceed the microstrip patch antenna for this work. The size of the antenna
limit defined to consider the patch antenna as safe and for each design is different since the calculation for both
Length (L) and Width (W) of the antenna has dependencies to
applicable to be used in the medical application. As per study the dielectric constant of the substrate. As the dielectric
done by [14] and [15], the value of the SAR decreases as the constant increases, the Width and Length of the antenna will
distance between the phantom head model and the antenna decrease. Therefore, a smaller size of the antenna can be
increases. The distance between the phantom head and the designed with higher dielectric constant value.
antenna are set to 25 mm as per used in [6].

II. METHODOLOGY
The methodology of the work is discussed in this section
which includes the antenna modeling, human head phantom
model and the substrate modeling.
A. Antenna Design
The microstrip patch antenna is designed to resonate at 7.3
GHz and the dielectric constant for the substrate, which is Fig. 1. The microstrip patch antenna from upfront.
natural rubber is 3. The information on dielectric constant and
loss tangent for the rubber-carbon filler are taken from paper Some modification on the ground plane is done by the adding
published by [8] and is tabulated in TABLE I. The thickness the circular EBG. Adding the EBG structure on the ground
of the substrate used is 1.03 mm [8]. plane increases the performance of the antenna as per claimed
by [6, 16, 17]. The radius and distance of the circular EBG are
The patch antenna parameters are calculated based on the
calculated using formula by [6].
TABLE I. RUBBER-CARBON FILLER PROPERTIES
‫ ݎ‬ൌ ͲǤͳͲߣ (6)
Carbon Content Dielectric Constant Loss Tangent
20% 4.549 0.0251 ‫ ܦ‬ൌ ͲǤͲʹߣ (7)
25% 4.197 0.0311 Where ” = radius of the circular EBG, and ‫ = ܦ‬distance
50% 8.8269 0.0558 between the EBG. Fig. 2 shows the circular EBG geometry
that is used in this paper.
resonant frequency, dielectric constant and dielectric height
defined using the following formula [11]. The width of the
patch antenna is calculated using equation in (1):
௩೚ ଶ
‫ ݓ‬ൌ ටఌ (1)
ଶ௙ೝ ೝ ାଵ

Where ‫ݒ‬௢ = light velocity, ݂௥ = resonant frequency and ߝ௥ =

dielectric constant. The effective dielectric constant is
calculated using equation in (2):
Fig. 2. Circular EBG geometry on the ground plane.

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 2020 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD)
27-28 September 2020, Johor, Malaysia

B. Human Head Phantom Model phantom model. This is to ensure that the antenna fulfilled the
regulation rule for 1-gram mass SAR limit which is 1.6 W/kg.
A six-layered human head phantom model is used in this
paper to simulate the SAR value. The six-layered human head A. Antenna Simulated Performance
phantom model is designed based on the realistic dielectric
properties as in TABLE II which are taken from paper As mentioned, the performance of the antenna which
published by [4]. The six layers bio tissue includes the skin, includes return loss, bandwidth and gain are discussed in this
fat, bone, dura, CSF and brain. sub-section. Fig. 4 shows the simulated return loss parameter
for natural rubber, rubber with 20% carbon filler, rubber with
TABLE II. BIO-TISSUES PROPERTIES 25% carbon filler and rubber with 50% carbon filler. Based on
the simulation results, the return loss of all of the antennas
Tissue Radius Permittivity Conductivity produced a good result. Theoretically, an antenna with a return
(mm) (S/m) loss less than -10 dB is considered to have a good radiation
Brain 81 43.22 1.29 because more than 90% of the power is successfully radiated
CSF 83 70.1 2.3 [11]. Antenna with natural rubber exhibit -40.38 dB of return
Dura 83.5 46 0.9
loss, rubber with 20% carbon filler exhibit -40.13 dB, rubber
with 25% carbon filler exhibit -41.62 dB, and rubber with
Bone 87.6 5.6 0.03
50% carbon filler exhibit -40.56 dB. Even though rubber with
Fat 89 5.54 0.04 25% carbon filler exhibit the lowest return loss value, other
Skin 90 45 0.73 results are considered good since more than 90% of the power
is radiated successfully.
Fig. 3 shows the designed circular human head phantom
model which is constructed using Computer Simulation
Technology (CST) Microwave Studio Suite software.

Fig. 4. Return loss of the microstrip patch antenna with different filler
concentration.

In medical applications, antenna is preferred to have a

Fig. 3. Six-layered human head phantom model with designed antenna
located 25 mm from the model
The designed microstrip patch antenna is placed 25 mm
from the constructed human head phantom model for the SAR
simulation, which is illustrated in Fig 3. The input power that
is used to simulate the SAR is 0.5 Watts.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
The microstrip patch antennas are designed and simulated
using the Computer Simulation Technology (CST) Microwave
Studio Suite software. The performance of the antenna such as
return loss, bandwidth and gain are obtained from the
simulation results. The results are later tabulated and
compared in TABLE III. Based on the comparison result, the
antennas with acceptable performance are later simulated for
SAR for 1-gram mass with the six layered human head
wider range of bandwidth. The bandwidth of the designed
antennas simulated for natural rubber is 279.09 MHz, for
rubber with 20% carbon filler is 298.83 MHz, for rubber with
25% carbon filler is 358.21 MHz and for rubber with 20%
carbon filler is 657.34 MHz. Based on the results obtained, it
can be observed that as the percentage of the carbon filler
increases, the bandwidth of the antenna also increases. As per
claimed by [8], the increasing bandwidth is due to the
increasing antenna loss tangent. The antenna loss tangent
increased proportionally to the percentage of the carbon filler.
Antenna with higher loss tangent will leave a wider trace
which widens the bandwidth of the antenna. Comparing the
obtained bandwidth with the reference paper which has 291.60
MHz of bandwidth, all of the designed antennas have wider
bandwidth except for natural rubber which has a slightly lower
bandwidth. However, antenna proposed by [13] which has
been used in head imaging only exhibit a bandwidth of 260
MHz which is lower than the bandwidth obtained for antenna
with natural rubber. Therefore, the bandwidth of the antenna
with natural rubber is considered acceptable and can be
implemented in head imaging application.

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 2020 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD)
27-28 September 2020, Johor, Malaysia
TABLE IV. PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF PROPOSED ANTENNA WITH REFERENCE PAPER AT 7.3 GHZ
Parameter Natural Rubber Rubber+20% Rubber+25%
Carbon Filler Carbon Filler
Return Loss -40.38 dB -40.13 dB -41.62 dB
Bandwidth 279.09 MHz 298.83 MHz 358.21 MHz
Gain 6.5 dB 4.27 dB 4.09 dB
The gain of the antenna is also considered. It can be
observed from the simulation result that the antenna with
natural rubber have a gain of 6.5 dB, rubber with 20% carbon
filler have 4.27 dB gain, rubber with 25% carbon filler have
4.09 dB gain and rubber with 50% carbon filler have -0.562
dB gain. From these results it can be observed that as the
concentration of carbon filler increases, the gain of the
antenna decreases. This is due to the increasing antenna loss
tangent which reduces the antenna efficiency and quality
factor. The reduction in the antenna efficiency causes the
antenna gain to reduce as per mentioned in [8]. Antenna with
rubber-50% carbon filler exhibits a negative gain, which is
due to the high loss tangent exhibited by the substrate. The
gain for the antenna with rubber-50% carbon filler is not
acceptable and not usable in this work. For the rest of the
designed antenna, the gains obtained are considered
acceptable. Even though the gain is much lower when
compared with the gain exhibit by the reference antenna, the
values are still acceptable since the designed antenna is used
for short range application.
B. SAR Simulation
The antenna with the human head model is simulated
before the calculation for the SAR value is done. Based on the
simulation result, the return loss for the antenna degraded, as
shown in TABLE IV, for all the designed antennas. Despite
the fact that there is a degradation in the return loss value for
all designed antenna with the existence of the human head
model, the value are still considered acceptable and good
enough since it is still below -10 dB which indicate that more
than 90% of the power transmitted successfully.
TABLE V. COMPARISON OF THE SIMULATED RETURN LOSS
Substrate Return Loss
Without Head Model With Head Model
Natural Rubber -40.38 dB -17.97 dB
Rubber + 20% carbon -40.13 dB -16.33 dB
filler
Rubber + 25% carbon -41.62 dB -17.87 dB
filler
The SAR simulation for natural rubber, rubber with 20%
carbon filler and rubber with 25% carbon filler are executed
using CST Microwave Studio software. The average mass
used for the SAR simulation is 1-gram. Antenna with rubber-
50% carbon filler is not included in the SAR simulation due to
the unacceptable gain produced by the antenna. TABLE V
shows the obtained SAR value for the designed antennas. The
SAR value for antenna with natural rubber is 1.22 W/kg,
rubber with 20% carbon filler is 0.737 W/kg and rubber with
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Rubber+50% RO3003 [12] [13]
Carbon Filler (reference)
-40.56 dB -49.289 dB NR -20 dB
657.34 MHz 291.60 MHz 216 MHz 260 MHz
-0.562 dB 6.77 dB 2.6 dB 6.6 dB
25% carbon filler is 0.703 W/kg. The SAR value for the
designed antennas exhibit an acceptable and fulfilled the SAR
limit defined for 1-gram average mass which is 1.6 W/kg. By
fulfilling the limit of the SAR defined for human head, the
designed antenna can be considered as safe to be used for
brain tumor detection application.
TABLE III. SIMULATED SPECIFIC ABSORPTION RATE (SAR)
Substrate SAR (W/kg)
Natural Rubber 1.22
Rubber + 20% carbon filler 0.737
Rubber + 25% carbon filler 0.703
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the performance of the antenna using rubber
with different concentration of carbon filler is studied and
compared. The antenna is designed to work at 7.3 GHz
resonant frequency and is intended to be used for brain tumor
application. The performance of the designed antennas is
compared with existing published papers related to human
head imaging. Based on the obtained results from the
simulation executed, the antenna using rubber with 25% of
carbon filler substrate is considered to have the best
performance among the other designs in this work. The
conclusive factor is the fact that the antenna exhibits a wide
bandwidth with acceptable gain compared to the others. A
wide bandwidth is always desirable and preferable in
applications involving human head imaging for a more
reliable system. Even though the antenna using rubber with
50% of carbon filler have wider bandwidth, the gain of the
antenna is not acceptable to be used since the gain value is
negative. The return loss for the designed antennas are
considered as good since the antennas exhibits more than -40
dB of return loss. This can ensure that a more accurate data to
be gained from the antenna. The only disadvantage that the
chosen antenna has is the low gain it exhibits compared to
other antennas, but having a 4.09 dB bandwidth is considered
as acceptable since the antenna will be used for short distance
application. The 1-gram average mass SAR values for the
designed antennas are also simulated on a six-layered human
head phantom model. Based on the SAR value gained from
the simulation, the antenna exhibits a lower SAR value than
the limit defined by ICNIRP and FCC guidelines which is
1.6W/kg for 1-gram averaged SAR. Therefore, it can be
concluded that the antenna is safe to be used on human head.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by International Islamic
University Malaysia (IIUM) and Ministry of Education
Malaysia (MOE) through Fundamental Research Grant
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 2020 IEEE Student Conference on Research and Development (SCOReD)
27-28 September 2020, Johor, Malaysia

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