An element-free Galerkin forward solver for the complete-electrode model in electrical impedance tomography

Abstract

An element-free Galerkin method (EFGM) is used for solving forward problem based on the complete electrode model (CEM) in electrical impedance tomography (EIT). The EFGM requires only nodal data and has the ability of providing mesh-independent solutions because no element connectivity is needed to be used in this method. However, direct imposition of Dirichlet boundary conditions for the EFGM is difficult because the shape functions employed in this method do not have the property of Dirac delta function. Solving the EIT forward problem based on the CEM by the EFGM, the effects of electrodes and contact impedances are taken into account and the complete solution of equations is provided without imposing Dirichlet boundary conditions. The numerical results are validated with experimental results obtained from a 2D circular homogeneous phantom, and the performance of the EFGM compared with the finite element method is also illustrated. Moreover, results obtained from the EFGM are presented for an inhomogeneous numerical phantom.