Microwave system and methods for combined heating and radiometric sensing for blood perfusion measurement of tissue

A combination of microwave heating and radiometry provides a promising means of the noninvasive measurement of blood perfusion. In this paper, a microwave system, along with a perfusion mimicking setup, for perfusion/flow measurement is described. This paper also presents for the first time i) considerations for achieving high sensitivity of temperature response versus flow, ii) radiometric measurement of temperature decay at the presence of flow, iii) a proper choice of the perfusion phantom to mimic the tissue permittivity, and iv) insights on the proper choice of heating and radiometry frequencies from the near-field antenna beam and bioheat transfer considerations.