Medical Imaging System and Method

A microwave imaging system comprising:

• a microwave antenna array comprising a transmitting antenna and a plurality of receiving antennas, wherein the transmitting antenna is configured to transmit microwave signals over a range of frequencies so as to illuminate a body part of a patient and the receiving antennas are configured to receive the microwave signals following scattering within the body part and acquire data representing the received microwave signals affected by scattering arising from objects within the body part;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• process the acquired data to determine a plurality of sets of scattering parameters for a plurality of points within the body part, wherein each set of scattering parameters represents the scattered field, at respective frequencies across the range of frequencies, from a corresponding point within the body part;
• generate an output indicative of the internal structure of the body part, using the plurality of sets of scattering parameters, to identify a region of interest within the body part;
• and
• classify the region of interest based on a type of tissue therein by analyzing the change of the scattering parameters, in a set of scattering parameters corresponding to the region of interest, over the range of frequencies.

A medical imaging method comprising:

• illuminating a body part of a patient with microwave signals emitted by a transmitting antenna of a microwave antenna array over a range of frequencies;
• receiving the microwave signals following scattering within the body part at a plurality of receiving antennas of the microwave antenna array and acquiring data representing the received microwave signals affected by scattering arising from objects within the body part;
• processing the acquired data to determine a plurality of sets of scattering parameters for a plurality of points within the body part, wherein each set of scattering parameters represents the scattered field, at respective frequencies across the range of frequencies, from a corresponding point within the body part;
• generating an output indicative of the internal structure of the body part, using the plurality of sets of scattering parameters;
• identifying a region of interest within the body part from the output;
• and
• classifying the region of interest based on a type of tissue therein by analyzing the change of the scattering parameters, in a set of scattering parameters corresponding to the region of interest, over the range of frequencies.