Title :
Time-Reversal Ultrawideband Breast Imaging: Pulse Design Criteria Considering Multiple Tumors With Unknown Tissue Properties
Author :
Chen, Yifan ; Gunawan, Erry ; Low, Kay Soon ; Wang, Shih-Chang ; Soh, Cheong Boon ; Putti, Thomas Choudary
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Eng., Univ. of Greenwich, Greenwich
Abstract :
Pulse design is investigated for time-reversal (TR) imaging as applied to ultrawideband (UWB) breast cancer detection. Earlier it has been shown that a suitably-designed UWB pulse may help to improve imaging performance for a single-tumor breast phantom with predetermined lesion properties. The current work considers the following more general and practical situations: presence of multiple malignancies with unknown tumor size and dielectric properties. Four pulse selection criteria are proposed with each focusing on one of the following aspects: eliminating signal clutter generated by tissue inhomogeneities, canceling mutual interference among tumors, improving image resolution, and suppressing artifacts created by sidelobe of the target response. By applying the proposed criteria, the shape parameters of UWB waveforms with desirable characteristics are identified through search of all the possible pulses. Simulation example using a numerical breast phantom, comprised of two tumors and structured clutter distribution, demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Specifically, a tradeoff between the image resolution and signal-to-clutter contrast (SCC) is observed in terms of selection of the excitation waveforms.
Keywords :
biological organs; biomedical imaging; cancer; clutter; gynaecology; image denoising; image resolution; microwave imaging; phantoms; tumours; ultra wideband technology; UWB pulse; UWB waveforms; artifact suppression; breast cancer detection; dielectric properties; image resolution; microwave imaging; mutual interference cancellation; pulse design criteria; signal clutter elimination; signal-to-clutter contrast; single-tumor breast phantom; time-reversal ultrawideband breast imaging; tissue inhomogeneity; tissue properties; tumor size; Breast cancer; Breast neoplasms; Cancer detection; Clutter; Dielectrics; Image resolution; Imaging phantoms; Lesions; Pulse generation; Ultra wideband technology; Breast cancer detection; pulse design; pulse shape; time-reversal (TR); ultrawideband (UWB) microwave imaging;
Journal_Title :
Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TAP.2008.928811