Medical Imaging with Microwave: Thermoacoustic Tomography

After introducing the principles of thermoacoustic tomography and pure microwave imaging, we summarize the mechanisms attributable to the dielectrical properties of biological tissues in the microwave frequency range. Next, we introduce some theoretical results from studies of thermoacoustic tomography, including information about optimal microwave frequencies, effects of acoustical heterogeneity on breast thermoacoustic tomography, limited-view thermoacoustic tomography, reconstruction algorithms, and spatial resolution. The experimental setups and the results of thermoacoustic tomography in planar and circular geometries are discussed. Finally, in vivo and in vitro results of both thermoacoustic tomography and pure microwave imaging are presented.