Microwave Vertebrae Strength Probe Development: Robust and Fast Phase Unwrapping Technique

We have developed a new transmission-based, open-ended coaxial probe for assessing vertebrae strength during spinal fusion surgery. The approach exploits the fact that the probes are within the far field of each other implying that the phase varies linearly with respect to propagation distance. Determining the absolute phase is critical for recovering the associated tissue dielectric properties from which bone strength will be determined. Unfortunately, unwanted multi-path signals corrupt the signals at the lower end of the operating frequency range from which our conventional unwrapping strategy depends. Our new approach requires only three measurements within the prime frequency range and can be determined robustly with a minimum of computations. This will be vital to developing a commercial device since the signal levels will be extremely low power requiring longer than usual data acquisition times, which will be mitigated by measuring the data at only a few frequencies. Fast and efficient operation will be critical for clinical success.