Ultrawideband radar imaging system for biomedical applications

Ultrawideband (UWB) (3–10GHz) radar imaging systems offer much promise for biomedical applications such as cancer detection because of their good penetration and resolution characteristics. The underlying principle of UWB cancer detection is a significant contrast in dielectric properties, which is estimated to be greater than 2:1 between normal and cancerous tissue, compared to a few-percent contrast in radiographic density exploited by x rays. This article presents a feasibility study of the UWB imaging of liver cancer tumors, based on the frequency-dependent finite difference time domain method. The reflection, radiation, and scattering properties of UWB pulses as they propagate through the human body are studied. The reflected and back-scattered electromagnetic energies from cancer tumors inside the liver are also investigated. An optimized, ultrawideband antenna was designed for near field operation, allowing for the reduction of the air-skin interface. It will be placed on the fat-liver tissue phantom with a malignant tumor stimulant. By performing an incremental scan over the phantom and removing early time artifacts, including reflection from the antenna ends, images based on the back-scattered signal from the tumor can be constructed. This research is part of our effort to develop a UWB cancer detection system with good detection and localization properties.