Dielectric contrast measurements on biological substances with resonant microwave near-field sensors

Resonant substrate integrated near-field sensors are used for characterization of aqueous solutions at three different frequencies. In addition, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells in a culture medium are characterized with the same sensors. Different concentrations as well as different vital states of cell suspensions are examined. The complex permittivity of the samples is evaluated using a linearized method based on perturbation theory. The permittivity differences between the measured cell suspensions are discussed. The resonant frequencies of the sensors are close to 3, 7, and 11 GHz, respectively.