DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT OF TISSUE BLOOD CONTENT USING MICROWAVE TOMOGRAPHY AND CONTRAST AGENT: FEASABILITY STUDY

摘要

Microwave Tomography (MWT), being a novel imaging modality, has potentials for non-invasive assessment of functional and pathological conditions of biological tissues. Soft tissue blood content is one of such potential applications. Earlier [1] we suggested that fast, multi-frame imaging capabilities of MWT present an opportunity for an assessment of tissue blood perfusion. These capabilities were demonstrated in imaging of swine extremities.The goal of this study was to use MWT for dynamic assessment of tissue blood content using dielectric contrast agent. The agent was injected into blood stream of swine brachial artery and an effect was assessed by imaging of swine medial foreleg. Successive imaging was demonstrated at different volume fractions of contrast agent.