Sub-wavelength Microwave Radar Imaging for Detection of Breast Cancer Tumors

This paper presents a novel approach to the detection of tumors of size well below a centimeter using a sub-wavelength ultrawide band (UWB) microwave radar imaging technique. Our approach exploits the principle of phase-shifting mask (PSM) and is implemented using a time-reversal (TR) algorithm based on the transmission-line matrix (TLM) method. A 0.5-mm diameter tumor was detected and located using a 200-ps UWB pulse in a realistic inhomogeneous two dimensional breast model. The breast model was derived from magnetic resonance imaging data and simulated using the TLM method.