Near-field beamforming in conformal planar arrays

Microwave hyperthermia systems (see Knocchel, R., 1983) require beamforming in the near-field of the radiating applicator to act on tumors. The precise focusing of beams is still challenging, and the conformal antenna array is a prospective solution to this problem, owing to the flexible contour of the array geometry, which can blend with the local body surface area. This work describes beamforming simulation tests on a 5 element K band waveguide array (18-26 GHz) constructed in the RF and Microwave Laboratory, UC Davis. The array has four directing waveguides and one focusing waveguide, whose linear position controls the point of focus of the near-field beam.