Microwave Tomography for Brain Imaging: Feasibility Assessment for Stroke Detection

There is a need for a medical imaging technology, that supplements current clinical brain imaging techniques, for the near-patient and mobile assessment of cerebral vascular disease. Microwave tomography (MWT) is a novel imaging modality that has this potential. The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility, and potential performance characteristics, of MWT for brain imaging with particular focus on stroke detection. The study was conducted using MWT computer simulations and 2D head model with stroke. A nonlinear Newton reconstruction approach was used. The MWT imaging of deep brain tissues presents a significant challenge, as the brain is an object of interest that is located inside a high dielectric contrast shield, comprising the skull and CSF. However, high performance, nonlinear MWT inversion methods produced biologically meaningful images of the brain including images of stroke. It is suggested that multifrequency MWT has the potential to significantly improve imaging results.