Modeling and Design of a Switched Transceiver Array for Tissue Imaging

An electronically-switched near-field microwave imaging transceiver array is designed for use in the range from 6 to 8 GHz. The array consists of printed antenna elements, each of which is connected to a dedicated radio front-end. By downconverting the received signals at each element to baseband, high-frequency losses are minimized while avoiding complicated microwave switching and feeding networks. Full-wave analysis of the antenna structure is coupled with a mixer's SPICE model, demonstrating the potential dynamic range of such an acquisition system. Experimental results are presented for comparison.