Breast Cancer Screening: Impact of Antenna Array Configurations on Microwave Imaging Quality

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Microwave imaging (MWI) offers a non-invasive approach for breast cancer screening.
• MWI leverages variations in dielectric properties of biological tissues for image generation.
• Optimizing antenna array design is crucial for enhancing MWI system efficiency and image reconstruction speed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a robust imaging pipeline for optimizing specialized antenna array designs in MWI.
• To evaluate the impact of different antenna configurations on MWI performance.
• To improve the accuracy and efficiency of MWI for breast cancer detection.

Main Methods:

• Simulations were performed in the 1-5 GHz frequency range using a simplified breast phantom.
• Antenna distributions, dielectric properties, and tumor characteristics (number, size, location) were varied.
• Images were reconstructed using the MERIT delay-and-sum algorithm, and assessed using signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and location error.

Main Results:

• Equally spaced antenna configurations consistently produced superior image quality compared to non-equally spaced ones.
• Non-equally spaced antennas showed potential for detecting targets in close proximity to sensors.
• The developed pipeline enabled efficient simulation and image reconstruction on a supercomputer.

Conclusions:

• This research provides a foundation for designing advanced MWI hardware.
• Refined antenna array configurations are key to enhancing MWI diagnostic accuracy.
• The findings support the strategic development of improved MWI systems for breast cancer screening.