Measuring device and a method for microwave-based investigation

A measuring device, comprising:

• a microwave transmitter;
• a microwave receiver;
• at least one antenna;
• a control device configured to control the microwave transmitter and the microwave receiver;
• and a dielectric extension adapted to be disposed between the antenna and an object to be investigated to electrically decouple the antenna from the object to be investigated,
• wherein the microwave transmitter is configured to transmit a microwave signal by the antenna and the dielectric extension into the object to be investigated,
• wherein the object to be investigated is capable of scattering the microwave signal,
• wherein the microwave receiver is configured to receive the scattered microwave signal by the antenna and the dielectric extension,
• wherein the dielectric extension has a length of 40 cm to 80 cm and has a dielectric constant of ε>4 such that the object to be investigated is disposed in a remote field of the antenna,
• wherein the remote field of the antenna is reached after a travel by the microwave signal through the dielectric extension of six wavelengths,
• wherein the object to be investigated is a breast of a female patient, the breast being disposed at one end of the dielectric extension such that substantially no air is disposed between the breast and the dielectric extension, and
• wherein the measuring device is arranged so that the breast of a patient is disposed between the rest of the body and the dielectric extension above a first end of the dielectric extension, and wherein the measuring device is being arranged so that the breast of the patient is compressed by the body weight of the patient, leading to a largely flat, uniformly thick shape of the breast.