In this study we present a design for a multi-frequency microwave radiometer aimed at prolonged monitoring of deep brain temperature in newborn infants and suitable for use during hypothermic neural rescue therapy. We identify appropriate hardware to measure brightness temperature and evaluate the accuracy of the measurements. We describe a method to estimate the tissue temperature distribution from measured brightness temperatures which uses the results of numerical simulations of the tissue temperature as well as the propagation of the microwaves in a realistic detailed three-dimensional infant head model. The temperature retrieval method is then used to evaluate how the statistical fluctuations in the measured brightness temperatures limit the confidence interval for the estimated temperature: for an 18 degrees C temperature differential between cooled surface and deep brain we found a standard error in the estimated central brain temperature of 0.75 degrees C. Evaluation of the systematic errors arising from inaccuracies in model parameters showed that realistic deviations in tissue parameters have little impact compared to uncertainty in the thickness of the bolus between the receiving antenna and the infant's head or in the skull thickness. This highlights the need to pay particular attention to these latter parameters in future practical implementation of the technique.

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Clinical studies of hypothermal neural rescue therapy for newborn infants who have suffered hypoxia-ischaemia are currently hindered by the difficulty in measuring deep brain temperature. This paper addresses: the specific requirements for this measurement problem, the design of a proposed radiometer system, a method for retrieving the temperature profile within the cooled head, and an estimation of the precision of the measurement of deep brain temperature using the technique. A five-frequency-band radiometer with a contact-type antenna operating within the range 1-4 GHz is proposed to obtain brightness temperatures corresponding to temperature profiles predicted by a realistic thermal model of the cooled baby head. The problems of retrieving the temperature profile from this set of brightness temperatures, and the estimation of its precision, are solved using a combination of model fitting and Monte Carlo techniques. The results of this paper show that the proposed technique is feasible, that it is expected to provide a good estimate of the temperature profile within the cooled baby-head, and that the estimated precision (2 ) of the temperature measured in the deep brain structures is better than 0.8 K, depending upon the estimation procedure used.

Recent simulation studies have shown that a technique of multi-frequency microwave radiometry is feasible for non-invasive measurement of deep brain temperatures in the new-born infants. A five-band microwave radiometer system has been developed, and its operation in a normal electromagnetic environment is checked. Five receivers operating with a waveguide antenna and at center frequencies of 1.2, 1.65, 2.3, 3.0 and 3.6 GHz (0.4 GHz bandwidth) are calibrated using a temperature-controlled water-bath. Temperature resolutions obtained for each receiver are 0.183, 0.273, 0.148, 0.108 and 0.118 K, respectively. A temperature retrieval simulation based on these resolutions and the previously proposed algorithm shows that the confidence interval, as produced by thermal noise, is 0.62 K for the retrieved central brain temperature. If the conductivity of brain is estimated wrong by 10 %, this will result in an error of 0.3-0.4 K. The result of this work is encouraging for realization of radiometric measurement of temperature profile in a baby's head.

[1] Clinical trials of hypothermic brain treatment for newborn babies are currently hindered by the difficulty in measuring deep brain temperatures. As one of the possible methods for noninvasive and continuous temperature monitoring that is completely passive and inherently safe is passive microwave radiometry (MWR). We have developed a five-band microwave radiometer system with a single dual-polarized, rectangular waveguide antenna operating within the 1-4 GHz range and a method for retrieving the temperature profile from five radiometric brightness temperatures. This paper addresses (1) the temperature calibration for five microwave receivers, (2) the measurement experiment using a phantom model that mimics the temperature profile in a newborn baby, and (3) the feasibility for noninvasive monitoring of deep brain temperatures. Temperature resolutions were 0.103, 0.129, 0.138, 0.105 and 0.111 K for 1.2, 1.65, 2.3, 3.0 and 3.6 GHz receivers, respectively. The precision of temperature estimation (2s confidence interval) was about 0.7°C at a 5-cm depth from the phantom surface. Accuracy, which is the difference between the estimated temperature using this system and the measured temperature by a thermocouple at a depth of 5 cm, was about 2°C. The current result is not satisfactory for clinical application because the clinical requirement for accuracy must be better than 1°C for both precision and accuracy at a depth of 5 cm. Since a couple of possible causes for this inaccuracy have been identified, we believe that the system can take a step closer to the clinical application of MWR for hypothermic rescue treatment.Citation: Sugiura, T., H. Hirata, J. W. Hand, J. M. J. Van Leeuwen, and S. Mizushina (2011), Five-band microwave radiometer system for noninvasive brain temperature measurement in newborn babies: Phantom experiment and confidence interval, Radio Sci., 46, RS0F08,