Microwave imaging of foreign bodies inside wood trunks

The detection of foreign bodies inside wood trunks is a key task in the wood processing industry. Bullets, screws, or other debris can severely damage carpentry machinery, and, consequently, must be removed prior to processing. In this paper, the feasibility of a new prototype of microwave tomograph for the detection of metallic inclusions inside wood trunks is analyzed. Numerical simulations show that the proposed system configuration is able to acquire data that can be successfully used, in conjunction with a proper inversion procedure, to obtain the distribution of the conductivity of the sample under test, and consequently, to identify the presence of metallic inclusions.