Addressing Multipath Signal Corruption in Microwave Tomography and the Influence on System Design and Algorithm...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Electromagnetics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Developing advanced medical imaging systems requires addressing fundamental signal measurement challenges.
• Suppressing unwanted multi-path signals is crucial for accurate target interrogation in tomography.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust, reliable, simple, and low-profile microwave tomography system.
• To overcome signal measurement challenges, specifically multi-path signal suppression.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a lossy coupling bath to suppress surface waves.
• Designed a novel array antenna and imaging algorithms informed by the lossy coupling medium concept.
• Integrated these concepts into a synergistic system.

Main Results:

• Developed a robust and reliable microwave tomography system.
• Successfully suppressed unwanted surface waves and multi-path signals.
• Demonstrated successful translation of the system to clinical application.

Conclusions:

• The developed microwave tomography system effectively addresses key signal measurement challenges.
• The synergistic integration of a lossy coupling medium, antenna design, and imaging algorithms leads to a novel and clinically viable system.