Time-Reversal Ultrawideband Breast Imaging: Pulse Design Criteria Considering Multiple Tumors With Unknown Tissue Properties

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.

[1]  W. Burnside,et al.  High frequency scattering by a thin lossless dielectric slab , 1983 .

[2]  P. Kosmas,et al.  A matched-filter FDTD-based time reversal approach for microwave breast cancer detection , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[3]  W. Joines,et al.  The measured electrical properties of normal and malignant human tissues from 50 to 900 MHz. , 1994, Medical physics.

[4]  Xu Li,et al.  Microwave imaging via space-time beamforming for early detection of breast cancer , 2003 .

[5]  A. Devaney,et al.  Time-reversal imaging with multiple signal classification considering multiple scattering between the targets , 2004 .

[6]  K. Paulsen,et al.  Nonlinear Microwave Imaging for Breast-Cancer Screening Using Gauss–Newton's Method and the CGLS Inversion Algorithm , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[7]  S.C. Hagness,et al.  A confocal microwave imaging algorithm for breast cancer detection , 2001, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters.

[8]  Paul M. Meaney,et al.  Enhancing breast tumor detection with near-field imaging , 2002 .

[9]  Atef Z. Elsherbeni,et al.  A comparative study of two-dimensional multiple scattering techniques , 1994 .

[10]  Elise C. Fear,et al.  Breast Surface Estimation for Radar-Based Breast Imaging Systems , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[11]  Ryuji Kohno,et al.  A Novel UWB Pulse Shape Modulation System , 2002, Wirel. Pers. Commun..

[12]  Mitsuhiro Matsuo,et al.  Design of UWB Pulses in Terms of B-Splines , 2005, IEICE Trans. Fundam. Electron. Commun. Comput. Sci..

[13]  Yifan Chen,et al.  Pulse Design for Time Reversal Method as Applied to Ultrawideband Microwave Breast Cancer Detection: A Two-Dimensional Analysis , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[14]  Jeffrey H. Reed,et al.  Introduction to ultra wideband communication systems, an , 2005 .

[15]  Stuchly,et al.  Dielectric properties of breast carcinoma and the surrounding tissues , 1988, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.