On-site Rapid Diagnosis of Intracranial Hematoma using Portable Multi-slice Microwave Imaging System

Abstract

Rapid, on-the-spot diagnostic and monitoring systems are vital for the survival of patients with intracranial hematoma, as their conditions drastically deteriorate with time. To address the limited accessibility, high costs and static structure of currently used MRI and CT scanners, a portable non-invasive multi-slice microwave imaging system is presented for accurate 3D localization of hematoma inside human head. This diagnostic system provides fast data acquisition and imaging compared to the existing systems by means of a compact array of low-profile, unidirectional antennas with wideband operation. The 3D printed low-cost and portable system can be installed in an ambulance for rapid on-site diagnosis by paramedics. In this paper, the multi-slice head imaging system’s operating principle is numerically analysed and experimentally validated on realistic head phantoms. Quantitative analyses demonstrate that the multi-slice head imaging system is able to generate better quality reconstructed images providing 70% higher average signal to clutter ratio, 25% enhanced maximum signal to clutter ratio and with around 60% hematoma target localization compared to the previous head imaging systems. Nevertheless, numerical and experimental results demonstrate that previous reported 2D imaging systems are vulnerable to localization error, which is overcome in the presented multi-slice 3D imaging system. The non-ionizing system, which uses safe levels of very low microwave power, is also tested on human subjects. Results of realistic phantom and subjects demonstrate the feasibility of the system in future preclinical trials.

Radar based technology for non-contact monitoring of accumulation of blood in the head: A numerical study

“…The technology maps the brain with a near field microwave-antenna [36]. Recently, a series of papers by Mobashsher et al, [37–42] describe the use of ultra-wide band (UWB) antenna in the microwave range for developing an image of the brain, to produce an image of a hematoma and the surrounding brain tissue.…”

Miniaturized on‐body antenna for small and wearable brain microwave imaging systems

“…As mentioned earlier, the signal bandwidth is a critical factor. In this regard, 1 to 4 GHz spectra, which was chosen as a defacto standard in some literature studies (eg,), are chosen to determine a trade‐off between penetration depth and spatial resolution. The design strategy of the proposed antenna is illustrated in Figure , where the design goal is to achieve a small antenna with an operational bandwidth of 1 to 4 GHz.…”

“…This improves the antenna gain and creates a unidirectional pattern in broadside. Although 3D antennas have smaller dimensions in the direction of radiation than their conventional counterparts, they are still not suitable for low‐volume and portable devices …”

“…Although 3D antennas have smaller dimensions in the direction of radiation than their conventional counterparts, they are still not suitable for low-volume and portable devices. 6 An alternative method to effectively reduce antenna dimensions, as well as improving its coupling characteristics, is to immerse antennas in a coupling liquid. 7,8 In this manner, the coupling liquid acts as an impedance matching medium between the antenna and the human body, and its high permittivity coefficient also leads to a considerable reduction in antenna physical dimensions.…”

Feasibility Study of Enhancing Microwave Brain Imaging Using Metamaterials

“…Although microwave imaging (MWI) methods initially focused on diagnosing breast cancer, MWI techniques for brain stroke detection and classification are drawing the interest of many groups worldwide [9][10][11][12][13]. Another possible application of MWI techniques is in detecting traumatic intracranial 2 of 17 bleedings [14].…”