Feasibility of bone fracture detection using microwave imaging

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, K. C.
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Fernandes, C. A., Costa, J. R.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/26303
• topic: Biomedical imaging; Bones; Dielectric materials; Image reconstruction; Microwave imaging

This paper studies the feasibility of Microwave Imaging (MWI) for detection of fractures in superficial bones like the tibia, using a simple and practical setup. First-responders could use it for fast preliminary diagnosis in emergency locations, where X-Rays are not available. It may prove valuable also for cases where X-ray are not recommended, e.g., length pregnant women or children. The method is inspired on the synthetic aperture radar technique. A single Vivaldi antenna is used to linearly scan the bone in the 8.3-11.1 GHz frequency range and collect the scattered fields. The system is operated in air, without the need for impractical impedance-matching immersion liquids. The image is reconstructed using a Kirchhoff migration algorithm. A Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) strategy is used to remove skin and background artifacts. To test this technique, a set of full-wave simulations and experiments were conducted on a multilayer phantom and on an ex-vivo animal bone. Results show that the system can detect and locate bone transverse fractures as small as 1 mm width and 13 mm deep, even when the bone is wrapped by 2 mm thick skin.