Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Methodol. Sep 20, 2026; 16(3): 110991
Published online Sep 20, 2026. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v16.i3.110991
Published online Sep 20, 2026. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v16.i3.110991
Microwave breast imaging: A review of clinical potential and technological advances
Isabella Akesson, Richard Kovac, Hyuna Son, Ana Claudia Teixeira de Castro Gonçalves Ortega, Daniil Fedorov, Faculty of Medicine, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele 20072, Italy
Arosh S Perera Molligoda Arachchige, GHOL-Hopital de Nyon, Nyon 1260, Vaud, Switzerland
Co-first authors: Isabella Akesson and Richard Kovac.
Author contributions: Akesson I and Kovac R contributed equally to this work and share co-first authorship, they were primarily responsible for the conceptualization, methodology development, data analysis, and manuscript drafting; Son H contributed to data curation, literature review, and manuscript editing; de Castro Gonçalves Ortega ACT and Fedorov D supported project administration, resources, and critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; Arachchige ASPM supervised the overall project, contributed to study design, provided clinical expertise, and performed final manuscript review and approval; all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Corresponding author: Arosh S Perera Molligoda Arachchige, MD, GHOL-Hopital de Nyon, Chemin Monastier 10, Nyon 1260, Vaud, Switzerland. aroshperera@outlook.it
Received: June 20, 2025
Revised: August 6, 2025
Accepted: November 26, 2025
Published online: September 20, 2026
Processing time: 385 Days and 20.5 Hours
Revised: August 6, 2025
Accepted: November 26, 2025
Published online: September 20, 2026
Processing time: 385 Days and 20.5 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Microwave breast imaging (MBI) offers a non-ionizing, cost-effective alternative to traditional breast imaging, particularly beneficial for women with dense breast tissue. By exploiting dielectric contrasts between malignant and healthy tissues, MBI-through techniques like microwave tomography and confocal radar imaging-shows promise in early detection. Despite challenges like limited spatial resolution and anatomical variability, advancements in antenna design, machine learning, and real-time imaging continued to push MBI closer to clinical integration, especially in low-resource or high-risk settings.