Investigation of high-resolution microwave breast imaging using a 3-D inverse scattering algorithm with a variable-strength spatial prior constraint

Microwave breast imaging is currently being investigated for several clinical applications including evaluation of breast density, detection of breast cancer, and monitoring of treatment. It is a promising alternative to conventional modalities in terms of cost, comfort, and safety. However, the requisite use of regularization techniques to solve the ill-posed inverse scattering problem typically results in moderate imaging resolution. One technique to improve microwave breast imaging resolution is to incorporate a priori structural information, also known as spatial priors, into the inverse scattering algorithm.