Date of Defense
21-6-2026 1:00 PM
Location
F1-1164
Document Type
Thesis Defense
Degree Name
Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (MSEE)
College
College of Engineering
Department
Electrical and Communication Engineering
First Advisor
Mahmoud F Al Ahmad
Keywords
RF sensing, viscoelastic modeling, blood clot, occlusion sensing, microwave reflection coefficient, thrombus, vascular diagnostics, coaxial probe, RLC model, transmission-line model
Abstract
Early and reliable detection of vascular thrombus remains a critical challenge for portable and non-invasive diagnostic systems. This work presents an RF-based sensing methodology for blood clot occlusion sensing through the extraction of viscoelastic clot characteristics derived from microwave reflection coefficient (S₁₁) measurements. A compact single-port coaxial probe is employed to interrogate the vessel–tissue system over a wide frequency range (1–25 GHz), where the measured RF response is used to derive equivalent viscoelastic and electrical model parameters associated with clot formation and progression. Both lumped-element RLC and distributed transmission-line representations are utilized to establish the relationship between the measured dielectric response and the evolving structural and viscoelastic properties of the clot. Experimental validation is performed using vessel phantoms with controlled occlusion levels ranging from 60% to 97%. The results demonstrate clear and repeatable shifts in resonance frequency, reflection magnitude, and extracted model parameters with increasing thrombus severity. A strong nonlinear correlation between the RFderived viscoelastic parameters and occlusion level is observed, enabling accurate quantitative estimation of clot progression. Unlike conventional flow- or mechanics-based approaches, the proposed method directly probes dielectric and viscoelastic alterations associated with thrombus development, allowing occlusion sensing independent of hemodynamic variations. The proposed single-port RF sensing platform offers high sensitivity to clot structural evolution while maintaining low system complexity and real-time operation capability. These findings demonstrate the potential of RF-derived viscoelastic modeling as a compact, low-cost, and non-invasive solution for vascular occlusion sensing and early thrombus monitoring.
Included in
RF-Derived Viscoelastic Modeling for Blood Clot Occlusion Sensing
F1-1164
Early and reliable detection of vascular thrombus remains a critical challenge for portable and non-invasive diagnostic systems. This work presents an RF-based sensing methodology for blood clot occlusion sensing through the extraction of viscoelastic clot characteristics derived from microwave reflection coefficient (S₁₁) measurements. A compact single-port coaxial probe is employed to interrogate the vessel–tissue system over a wide frequency range (1–25 GHz), where the measured RF response is used to derive equivalent viscoelastic and electrical model parameters associated with clot formation and progression. Both lumped-element RLC and distributed transmission-line representations are utilized to establish the relationship between the measured dielectric response and the evolving structural and viscoelastic properties of the clot. Experimental validation is performed using vessel phantoms with controlled occlusion levels ranging from 60% to 97%. The results demonstrate clear and repeatable shifts in resonance frequency, reflection magnitude, and extracted model parameters with increasing thrombus severity. A strong nonlinear correlation between the RFderived viscoelastic parameters and occlusion level is observed, enabling accurate quantitative estimation of clot progression. Unlike conventional flow- or mechanics-based approaches, the proposed method directly probes dielectric and viscoelastic alterations associated with thrombus development, allowing occlusion sensing independent of hemodynamic variations. The proposed single-port RF sensing platform offers high sensitivity to clot structural evolution while maintaining low system complexity and real-time operation capability. These findings demonstrate the potential of RF-derived viscoelastic modeling as a compact, low-cost, and non-invasive solution for vascular occlusion sensing and early thrombus monitoring.