A Study of Resonance Modes for Microwave Imaging in Biomedical Applications

The present numerical study explores the resonant modes generated within a microwave imaging chamber having perfectly conducting walls and loaded by a breast phantom. The objective of this preliminary work is to investigate whether such a resonant set-up, and an understanding of the modal field distribution, can be used to improve microwave imaging. As such the perturbation of the resonant frequencies and associated modes are identified utilizing the eigenmode projection technique. A simplified 2D model is utilized to assess the sensitivity of the resonant modes and frequencies to various tissues, such as different sizes, shapes, and locations of tumour and fibroglandular tissue regions, located within the breast model. It is found that there is a considerable variation in the sensitivity of the resulting modes to tissue anomalies located within the breast.