Experimental Validation of a Microwave System for Brain Stroke 3-D Imaging

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Accurate localization of brain hemorrhages and ischemias is critical for timely medical intervention.
• Existing imaging techniques may have limitations in terms of cost, accessibility, or resolution for certain applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally validate a microwave prototype device for brain hemorrhage and ischemia localization.
• To propose and validate an innovative calibration technique for enhancing localization accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 3D human-like head phantom with brain-mimicking materials or ex vivo calf brains.
• Employed a 1 GHz microwave imaging (MWI) system with 24 printed monopole antennas in a conformal array.
• Applied a differential imaging algorithm using singular value decomposition of the scattering operator.

Main Results:

• The MWI system demonstrated promising reconstruction results for localizing abnormalities within the brain phantom.
• The proposed calibration technique, based on measured data, showed potential for improving device performance.
• The study successfully extended the validation of the MWI device's capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The microwave prototype shows significant potential for non-invasive detection of brain hemorrhages and ischemias.
• The developed calibration method offers an innovative approach to enhance the accuracy of microwave-based brain imaging.
• Further validation and development could lead to a more accessible and effective diagnostic tool.