Microwave Office used in smart radar for cancer tumor tracking
Lung cancer comprises 28 percent of all cancer deaths in the U.S. An increased radiation dose to the tumor will lead to improved local control and survival rates, however, because in many anatomic sites the tumors can move significantly with respiration, it is difficult to deliver a sufficient radiation dose directly to the tumor without the risk of damaging the surrounding healthy tissue. A technology known as respiratory gating or tumor tracking has been developed to overcome this problem. The technology is beneficial in that it locates tumors in real-time. However, current methods are either invasive to the patients or do not have sufficient accuracy.
Graduate students at Texas Tech, under the direction of Dr. Changzhi Li and in partnership with NSF and CPRIT, have developed a smart DC-coupled radar sensor to track the tumor location and thus control the radiation beam. This revolutionary new method, called Smart Radar, is non-invasive, has no side effects or discomfort, and links directly to chest motion.
“The combination of AWR software, LabVIEW, and PXI proved to be a key element in the successful development of our Smart Radar technology, said Changhzi Li, associate professor at Texas Tech University. “It was also a good package to revitalize traditional RF/microwave engineering courses at Texas Tech. The ease of use of the tools offered a good way to explain complex design concepts in a highly interactive approach and student interest was greatly boosted.”
As a result of the Smart Radar project, Professor Li was then able to take the lessons learned from that effort and use them to enhance and revitalized interest and enrollment in the university’s RF/microwave engineering program. Dr. Li shares that, “AWR and NI tools illustrate complicated microwave theories with ease. The use of these tools within the classroom inspired students from the beginning of the semester through to the final project. They gained theoretical knowledge but also valuable hands on experiences in design, fabrication, and characterization of microwave circuits.”
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