Standardising Dielectric Property Measurements of Biological Tissues: an Overview on Open Ended Coaxial Probe and Measurement Guidelines

The dielectric properties of biological tissues dictate the interaction of electromagnetic waves with the human body and are therefore essential for the design and optimisation of electromagnetic-based medical technologies. Several methods are available to obtain these properties; the open-ended coaxial probe method is the commonly employed. Although such measurements have been performed for more than two decades, there is no clear consensus within the community regarding the accompanying metadata. In recent years, best-practice guidelines for conducting these measurements have been proposed, yet their adoption remains limited. In this review, we revisit the existing guidelines for measuring dielectric properties of biological tissues, including recommended practices and metadata requirements. Furthermore, we propose and provide a practical, implementable table aligned with the proposed best practices, with the aim of promoting standardisation and enhancing comparability across studies.