Numerical Assessment of a Microwave Imaging Technique for Pediatric Stroke Diagnostics

Stroke is a widespread disease that may cause permanent damage and, in the worst cases, be fatal also in pediatric and adolescent patients. Timely and adequate treatments play a fundamental role since radically different therapies are required for ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, and a misdiagnosis can cause further damage. In this scenario, microwave imaging is emerging as a powerful tool for non-invasive diagnostics [1]. However, it requires the solution of a problem that is inherently non-linear and ill-posed. Consequently, ad-hoc inversion schemes are usually necessary, especially when a quantitative retrieval of the dielectric properties is required.