From Tissue Dielectric Properties to Smart Microwave Ablation Applicators: Principles, Methods, and Challenges
This tutorial presents the principles, methods, and emerging technologies associated with microwave thermal ablation (MTA), a therapeutic technique used for the in-situ destruction of malignant tissue.
The first part introduces microwave thermal ablation and current technologies for treatment guidance, monitoring, and post-procedure outcome assessment, with particular attention to challenges associated with real-time feedback and reliable control of the ablation zone.
The tutorial then examines the dielectric properties of biological tissues and their role in microwave-tissue interactions. Topics include the frequency dependence of dielectric properties, their variation during thermal ablation, and methods for dielectric characterization, with particular emphasis on the open-ended coaxial probe technique. The relevance of dielectric properties to applicator design, numerical modeling, treatment planning, and ablation-zone prediction is also discussed.
Finally, an emerging approach is presented in which the microwave ablation applicator is used not only for energy delivery but also as a sensing device for in-situ dielectric spectroscopy. This approach has the potential to support real-time tissue monitoring, ablation-zone estimation, and the development of smarter, feedback-controlled microwave ablation systems.
The tutorial is held in conjunction with the SoftCOM 2026 conference.
Date and Time
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- Radisson Blu Resort & Spa
- Put Trstenika 19
- Split, Splitsko-Dalmatinska
- Croatia 21000
- Room Number: Agava
Speakers
Marta Cavagnaro of Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
Biography:
Marta Cavagnaro (M’00, SM’22) received the cum laude Electronic Engineering degree (1993) and the Ph.D. degree (1997) in Electronic Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. She is Associate Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications of the same university. Her research interests are related to dosimetric aspects of the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biological systems, as medical applications, measurements of dielectric properties of tissues, and environmental impact of mobile communication systems. She is Associate Editor of the Bioelectromagnetics journal (Wiley), Sensors (MDPI), and serves as anonymous reviewer for several scientific journals. She is a member of the Thermal Medicine Standard Committee of ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers), and a member of the Italian CEI TC106 devoted to standardization issues related to human exposure to electromagnetic fields. She participated in several EU funded COST action related to medical applications of electromagnetic fields (EMFMED, MiMed, MyWAVE). She is vice Chair of the Technical Community on Therapeutic & Diagnostic Systems and Technologies (TC-TDST) of IEEE EMBS. She is author or co-author of more than 200 scientific papers.
Address:Croatia
Klementina Vidjak of University of Split, FESB
Biography:
Klementina Vidjak received the summa cum laude Master’s degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering in 2020 from the University of Split, Croatia, and the Ph.D. degree in Information and Communication Technologies from Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, in 2024, cum laude. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture — FESB, University of Split. Her research interests are related to applied electromagnetics, biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields, dielectric characterization of biological tissues, electromagnetic dosimetry, and microwave-based therapeutic and diagnostic technologies. She serves as an anonymous reviewer for several scientific journals and is an IEEE member.