Microwave Applications in Medicine in the U.S.A. - a Short Overview

In the last ten years, microwaves have been used increasingly in the U.S.A. in the areas of diagnostic and therapeutic medicine as well as in surgery. For example, possive radiometry is an important tool for measuring the temperature of subcutaneous regions of the human body non-invasively, with the potential of detecting deep seated tumors. Microwave hyperthermia, meanwhile, is currently in use in many medical centers in the U.S.A. in the treatment of cancer as an ancillary modality to rediation therapy and chemotherapy, and in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a technique presently being tested in humans in a FDA IDE study. Microwave balloon angioplasty (MBA), a modality currently being tested in animals, combines heat and mechanical force (balloon) to open occluded and partially occluded arteries. The following short discussion concentrates on the topics dealt with most often in material published in IEEE MTT. The area of medical applications of microwave imaging is not included.