Microwave imaging process by multiprobe radiometry: present state of the exploration of the breast

The problem consists in the processing of the radiometric data suited to medical investigations. If one reconstructs an image with the radiometric intensities measured at the different points of the surface of the living tissues, then qualitative information is obtained about the temperature distribution which is present in the depth of the tissues accessible to the radiometric measurements. The examination of such an image makes possible the location of thermogen volumes, which can be associated to a pathology or have a biological meaning. The synthesis of such images needs a lot of radiometric data. For this reason, the authors have first constructed a multiprobe radiometer in order to make easier the acquisition of the data and their localization. A microcomputer manages the commutation of the probes, stores the radiometric data, carries out their processing leading to the synthesis of a radiometric image, and also works in the temperature profile reconstruction