Differential microwave imaging of breast pair for tumor detection

A microwave technique for breast cancer detection using the anatomical similarity between the left and right breasts of an individual is presented. The technique uses the differential approach between two images to enhance tumor detection and reduce the possibility of glands and other tissues producing false positive targets. To that end, a realistic simulation environment, which includes a pair of realistic breasts generated from MRI data surrounded by suitable antenna arrays, is created. The antennas send a pulse covering the frequency band 2.5-6 GHz towards the breasts and capture the scattered signals in a monostatic radar approach. The collected signals from each of the antenna arrays are then processed using delay-and-summation technique to show an image of each of the breasts. The two images include several false positive targets that can be removed by subtracting the two images keeping only any suspected tumor. The obtained results validate the capability of the proposed approach in enhancing breast tumor detection.