Non-Invasive Microwave-Based Imaging System for Early Detection of Breast Tumours

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Microwave Technology

Background:

• Early and accurate breast tumor detection is crucial for effective treatment.
• Current imaging methods face challenges with dense breast tissue, potentially obscuring tumors.
• Non-invasive techniques offer a safer alternative for breast cancer screening.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a microwave-based system for non-invasive breast tumor detection.
• To assess the system's performance in identifying tumors with varying dielectric properties.
• To evaluate the system's efficacy in challenging scenarios, such as dense breast tissue.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of a microwave data acquisition system with high-frequency components and a vector network analyzer.
• Development of a Python script for automated system control and data acquisition.
• Utilizing an adapted Improved Delay-and-Sum (IDAS) algorithm with Hamming window filtering and averaging for image reconstruction.
• Experimental validation using breast phantoms with simulated tumors of different dielectric properties.

Main Results:

• Successful detection of simulated tumors within breast phantoms.
• Demonstrated capability to identify tumors even with low dielectric contrast between tumor and healthy tissue.
• Promising results for detecting tumors in conditions mimicking dense breast tissue.

Conclusions:

• The developed microwave imaging system shows significant potential for non-invasive breast tumor detection.
• The system's performance is robust, even in challenging cases of low dielectric contrast.
• This technology could offer a valuable tool for breast cancer screening, particularly for dense breasts.