Temperature anomaly detection and estimation using microwaveradiometry and anatomical information

摘要

Many medically significant conditions (e.g., ischemia, carcinoma and inflammation) involve localized anomalies in physiological parameters such as the metabolic and blood perfusion rates. These in turn lead to deviations from normal tissue temperature patterns. Microwave radiometry is a passive system for sensing the radiation that objects emit naturally in the microwave frequency band. Since the emitted power depends on temperature, and since radiation at low microwave frequencies can propagate through several centimeters of tissue, microwave radiometry has the potential to provide valuable information about subcutaneous anomalies. The radiometric temperature measurement for a tissue region can be modeled as the inner product of the temperature pattern and a weighting function that depends on tissue properties and the radiometer's antenna. In the absence of knowledge of the weighting functions, it can be difficult to extract specific information about tissue temperature patterns (or the underlying physiological parameters) from the measurements. In this paper, we consider a scenario in which microwave radiometry works in conjunction with another imaging modality (e.g., 3D-CT or MRI) that provides detailed anatomical information. This information is used along with sensor properties in electromagnetic simulation software to generate weighting functions. It also is used in bio-heat equations to generate nominal tissue temperature patterns. We then develop a hypothesis testing framework that makes use of the weighting functions, nominal temperature patterns, and maximum likelihood estimates to detect anomalies. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the proposed detection procedures. The design and performance of an S-band (2-4 GHz) radiometer, and some of the challenges in using such a radiometer for temperature measurements deep in tissue, are also discussed.