title: Microwave radar imaging of heterogeneous breast tissue integrating a priori information.
abstract: Conventional radar-based image reconstruction techniques fail when they are applied to heterogeneous breast tissue, since the underlying in-breast relative permittivity is unknown or assumed to be constant. This results in a systematic error during the process of image formation. A recent trend in microwave biomedical imaging is to extract the relative permittivity from the object under test to improve the image reconstruction quality and thereby to enhance the diagnostic assessment. In this paper, we present a novel radar-based methodology for microwave breast cancer detection in heterogeneous breast tissue integrating a 3D map of relative permittivity as a priori information. This leads to a novel image reconstruction formulation where the delay-and-sum focusing takes place in time rather than range domain. Results are shown for a heterogeneous dense (class-4) and a scattered fibroglandular (class-2) numerical breast phantom using Bristol's 31-element array configuration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2299-2250
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moll
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Centre of Communications and Research, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK.
authors.forename: Dallan
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8126-7676
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.affiliation: Centre of Communications and Research, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK.
authors.forename: Mantalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarafianou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Straße 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2387-1947
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krozer
authors.affiliation: Centre of Communications and Research, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, UK.
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Craddock