Immersion medium independent algorithm for breast microwave imaging

Abstract

Biomedical imaging at microwave frequencies has shown potential for breast cancer detection and monitoring. The Universities of Manitoba and Calgary have recently developed an algorithm that combines microwave tomography (MWT) and radar imaging by incorporating radar-derived regional permittivity maps as prior information into a finite element contrast source inversion (FEM-CSI) algorithm (Baran et. al., Pier, 149, 161–171, 2014). Matching the immersion medium to the dielectric properties of the breast is often regarded as crucial for adequate image reconstruction, however we demonstrate that high quality images are possible in any immersion media when the combined radar/MWT approach is used.