Microwave Imaging for Parkinson's Disease Detection: A Phantom-Based Feasibility Study Using Temperature-Controlled
Leonardo Cardinali1,2, David O Rodriguez-Duarte1, Jorge A Tobón Vasquez1
1Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 31, 2025
Summary
Differential microwave imaging can detect subtle temperature changes in brain tissue, showing promise for early Parkinson's disease (PD) detection. This non-invasive technique identifies dielectric variations linked to PD's early pathological alterations.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Medical Imaging
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) involves substantia nigra changes, potentially causing hemispheric asymmetries.
- Microwave imaging offers non-invasive detection of subtle dielectric variations in brain tissue.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility of differential microwave imaging for detecting small dielectric contrasts relevant to Parkinson's disease.
- To assess the sensitivity of microwave imaging to minute physiological alterations in brain tissue.
Main Methods:
- A 2D head phantom with a Teflon tube simulating the substantia nigra was used.
- Differential microwave imaging with four antennas and multi-frequency bi-focusing algorithm was employed.
- Controlled temperature variations in the phantom emulated dielectric changes.
Main Results:
- The system successfully detected dielectric contrasts equivalent to a 0.4 °C temperature change.
- This corresponds to a relative permittivity change of approximately 0.17%.
- The imaging approach demonstrated high sensitivity to small dielectric variations.
Conclusions:
- Differential microwave imaging is sensitive to very small dielectric contrasts.
- The technique shows potential as a tool for future Parkinson's disease detection research.
- Further studies are needed to correlate dielectric changes with specific PD alterations.
