Characterization of the Dielectric Properties of the Bladder Over the Microwave Range

The dielectric properties of tissues characterize the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the body. Accurate knowledge of these properties facilitates the design of effective electromagnetic-based medical technologies. A number of such technologies have been proposed to target the diagnosis or treatment of bladder conditions, including urinary incontinence and bladder cancer. However, available dielectric data for the bladder are extremely limited in scope and have not been updated in line with modern knowledge, including best practices in measurement procedures to reduce the impact of confounders, along with improved reporting of experimental metadata. For these reasons, in this paper, we present a study of dielectric measurements on the bladder of freshly excised bovine and porcine tissues over the microwave frequency range. We examine the properties of the inside and outside of the bladder wall and carefully control and record confounders during the measurements. The obtained data are analyzed in terms of confounders (temperature, time from excision, interspecies differences) and compared with data from the literature. The resulting dataset, composed of 52 measurements from ten animals, provides a thorough and quantitative understanding of the dielectric properties of the bladder. The results of this study will benefit the development of related electromagnetic medical technologies and thereby positively impact patient care over the long term.