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Abstract
Among the various alternative breast imaging modalities to improve breast cancer
detection, microwave imaging is attractive due to the high dielectric property contrast
between the cancerous and normal tissue and has received a significant interest over the
last decade.
This thesis presents the research and development of a microwave imaging system
capable of reconstructing the dielectric properties of the female breast. As part of this
study, a brief review of the ongoing research in the field of microwave imaging of
biological tissues is given, with major focus on the breast tumor detection application.
The current microwave imaging systems are classified on the basis of the employed
measurement concepts. Within the various microwave imaging techniques under
development, the active frequency domain method is found to be one of the most
promising and is chosen as a basis for the development of the imaging instrument. The
active frequency domain method allows for a wide dynamic range, which is important
for image quality. It is based on the measurement of the complex transmission
coefficient in several directions through the imaging domain containing the object to be
imaged (the breast). This data is then used to reconstruct an image, which consists of a
spatial distribution of the complex permittivity in the imaging domain. Using this image
the cancer tissue can be detected due to its dielectric property contrast compared to
normal tissue. The instrument employs a multichannel high sensitive superheterodyne
architecture, enabling parallel coherent measurements. In this way, mechanical
scanning, which is commonly used in measurements of an electromagnetic field
distribution, is avoided. The system presented is the first reported 3D microwave breast
imaging camera with parallel signal detection. The hardware operates in the frequency
range 0.3 – 3 GHz. The noise floor is below -140 dBm over the bandwidth of the
system. The dynamic range depends on the available incident power range and is
limited by the channel to channel isolation of 140 dB.
The work presented in this thesis encompasses a wide range of aspects related to
hardware design including a system architecture and custom components development.
Several novel compact microwave components, such as planar bandpass filters and
wideband impedance transformers, are proposed.
A monolithically integrated system on a chip for the imaging system front-end is
designed, which allows to further improve the imaging system performance and reduces
the cost of such class of instruments. The integrated circuit has been realised in a GaAs
0.18 μm pHEMT process and provides the main functions of a front-end, such as
multiplexing, amplification, and mixing, in a frequency range of 0.1 – 8 GHz.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 116 |
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ISBN (Print) | 87-92465-00-5 |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2008 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Design of Microwave Camera for Breast Cancer Detection'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Design of Microwave Camera for Breast Cancer Detection
Zhurbenko, V., Krozer, V., Meincke, P., Vidkjær, J., Bialkowski, M. E. & Semenov, S.
01/09/2005 → 23/12/2008
Project: PhD