A three-dimensional time domain microwave imaging method for breast cancer detection based on an evolutionary algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents a novel stochastic microwave method for the detection, location and reconstruction of electric properties of breast cancer in a simplified breast phantom. The method is based on the inversion of time domain data. The problem is recast as an optimization one by defining a suitable cost function which is then minimized using an efficient evolutionary algorithm. Selected numerical simulations of a simplified three dimensional breast model and a realistic numerical phantom based on magnetic resonance images (MRIs) are carried out to assess the capabilities of the method. The results obtained show that the proposed method is able to reconstruct the properties of a tumor-like inclusion to a reasonable degree of accuracy.