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Presenter: Elise Fear
Supervisor:

Date: Wed, April 11, 2001
Time: 11:00:00 - 00:00:00
Place: EOW 230

ABSTRACT

Confocal microwave imaging (CMI) was recently introduced for breast tumor detection. Tumor detection with CMI is based on the electrical contrast of normal and malignant tissues. The breast is illuminated with an ultra-wideband pulse of microwaves, reflections are recorded at the illuminating antenna, and this is repeated for a number of antenna locations. Images are formed by synthetically scanning the focus of the array through the breast. When the focus is located at a tumor (or strongly scattering object), returns add coherently. This results in a larger contribution than that obtained with the focus located in normal breast tissue.

We are developing a cylindrical configuration for CMI. The woman to be scanned lies on her stomach with the breast extending through a hole in the examination table. The breast is encircled by an array of antennas, and each antenna is placed at a distance from the skin. This talk describes the algorithms used to reconstruct images. Results obtained with simulations of a simple breast model demonstrate tumor detection and localization in three dimensions. Images of a more complex and realistic breast model also indicate successful detection of tumors with the cylindrical CMI system