Stepped frequency continuous wave software defined radar for medical imaging

Software defined radar (SDRadar) is investigated as a possible transceiver for microwave-based medical imaging applications. In radar-based microwave imaging, wideband pulses are synthetically created using a stepped frequency continuous wave (SFCW) varying over the entire wideband frequency range. Although the resolution is typically low compared with other tools, such as X-ray, microwave imaging is gaining popularity due to low health risk, and low-cost compared to conventional medical imaging systems. Recent works show the feasibility of this technique by employing commercial vector network analysers (VNA); however, using VNA results in a rigid, bulky and expensive system. To realize a mass screening diagnostic tool, a low-cost portable system based on SDRadar as a transceiver is proposed. The SFCW-SDRadar prototype is implemented using both open source software and hardware. The software part of the radar is realized using GNU Radio, whilst the hardware part is implemented using bladeRF.