Enhanced holographic microwave imaging for MNP target tumor detection

Abstract

Holographic microwave imaging (HMI) has been proposed as a potential imaging tool for breast cancer detection. However, this method is not sensitive enough to small tumors especially when they located inside the fibro-glandular tissue. This paper investigates the possibility of the use of enhanced HMI to improve the quality of breast image and diagnostic sensitivity by applying magnetic nanoparticles (MNP). A numerical system, including a realistic breast model, 16-element transducer array, a 2-element magnetic coil array, and an image processing model, has been developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the enhanced HMI method for mapping of a dense breast. The numerical results demonstrated that the proposed method could detect the MNP target breast tumor and distinguish the small tumor from fibro-glandular tissue in a dense breast, which has the potential to develop a useful imaging tool for early breast cancer detection in the future.