Abstract:

Breast cancer incidence in women has increased from one in twenty in 1960 to one in eight today. Although technological advances have improved the likelihood of early detection, current breast imaging modalities still have limitations. In recent years, microwave imaging has shown its potential as an alternative approach for breast cancer detection. The principle behind this approach is the detection of differences in electrical characteristics between normal and malignant breast tissues in the microwave frequency range, which it is usually in the range of 2:1.

In this talk, an overview of the basic principles behind this novel imaging technology is presented. Practical and theoretical aspects such as irradiation methodology, scan trajectory considerations, and focusing approaches are described and discussed in detail. Furthermore, the potential of this imaging technique is illustrated using experimental data sets collected from synthetic phantoms that mimic the dielectric properties of breast and cancer tissues.

Joint work with Gabriel Thomas.