Method and system to determine radio frequency antenna electromagnetic field spatial distribution

A system for determining an electromagnetic field spatial distribution of a radio frequency (RF) antenna, the system comprising:

• an RF antenna configured to emit a plurality of RF energy pulses into a homogeneous medium;
• at least one processor configured to:
• perform a plurality of thermoacoustic signal measurements of the plurality of RF energy pulses, wherein each of the thermoacoustic signal measurements is performed in a similar manner;
• generate a reconstructed pressure distribution for a volume located within the homogeneous medium using a variance in the plurality of thermoacoustic signal measurements;
• and
• generate a representation of the RF antenna electromagnetic field spatial distribution within the volume based upon a calculation using the reconstructed pressure distribution for the volume located within the homogeneous medium.

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• performing, by at least one processor, a plurality of thermoacoustic signal measurements of a plurality of RF energy pulses emitted by an RF antenna, wherein each of the thermoacoustic signal measurements is performed in a similar manner;
• generating, by the at least one processor, a reconstructed pressure distribution for a volume located within a homogeneous medium using a variance in the plurality of thermoacoustic signal measurements;
• and
• generating, by the at least one processor, a representation of a RF antenna electromagnetic field spatial distribution within the volume based upon a calculation using the reconstructed pressure distribution for the volume located within the homogeneous medium.