Chirp pulse microwave computed tomography(CP-MCT) equipped with a fan beam scanner for high-speed imaging of a biological target

Recently, microwave imaging aiming at early-stage-tumor detection has become of major interest because of its relatively high contrast resolution in the image. Chirp pulse microwave computed tomography (CP-MCT) obtains the attenuation and/or phase shift images of biological targets by use of a chirp pulse signal from 1 GHz to 2 GHz and signal processing techniques. The experimental- and computational-studies show that the estimated spatial resolution becomes 10 to 12 mm and very small temperature variation such as 0.3 degree to 0.5 degree is detectable. Usefulness of this imaging modality increases by developing a fan beam scanner that enables fast data acquisition. In fact, it takes only a few minutes for imaging, while the prototype system takes about 90 minutes.