Systems and methods for 3-D data acquisition for microwave imaging

摘要

Tomographic imaging of biological tissue is achieved through a microwave imaging system and associated methods. An array of antennas are positioned in an illumination tank to surround biological tissue to be imaged. A liquid coupling medium is placed in the illumination tank, and the biological tissue is immersed in the medium. The array of antennas transmit and receive microwave-frequency RF signals that are propagated through the biological tissue. A signal processor is coupled to the antennas to process a demodulated signal representative of the microwave-frequency RF signal received by one or more of the antennas to produce scattered field magnitude and phase signal projections of the biological tissue. These projections may be used to reconstruct a conductivity and permittivity image across an imaged section of the biological tissue to identify the locations of different tissue types (e.g., normal versus malignant or cancerous) within the biological tissue. The liquid coupling medium may include glycerol in a solution with water or saline, or in an emulsion with water, and oil and an emulsifier. The liquid coupling medium containing glycerol provides a low-contrast medium that is beneficial when imaging low-permittivity objects, such as human breast tissue.