Computational Focusing Sensor: Enhancing Spatial Resolution of Electrical Impedance Tomography in Region of Interest

Abstract

As a non-invasive imaging technique, Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) aims to reconstruct the electrical conductivity distribution image in the observation field. However, the low spatial resolution restricts the development of EIT. In some specific applications, the conductivity variations are concentrated in a sub-region of the entire observation field. In response to the above problems, a design method of EIT computational focusing sensor is proposed to improve the spatial resolution in the partial region of interest (ROI). According to the conformal transformation theory, the sensor array is optimized to improve the sensitivity within the ROI to enhance the imaging accuracy in the local area. Simulation and experiment analyses are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results are compared with the conventional uniform sensor. The quality of image reconstruction is evaluated by qualitative analysis and quantitative indicators. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed optimized sensor can obtain the high precision reconstruction of inclusions in ROI and has higher recognition ability for small size and close distance inclusions in ROI than the uniform electrode array.