Preliminary phantom-based dynamic calibration techniques assessment for microwave colonoscopy systems

Early detection and resection of colon polyp is the best way to reduce colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality. The current method for early detection is colonoscopy, which has a limited field of view, and its efficacy is highly dependant on the endoscopist's experience and colon preparation. This work presents a device for combining microwave imaging with optical colonoscopy. The challenges of this new microwave imaging system are presented, such as the unknown distance to the colon mucosa, which leads to undesired scattered fields and, the antenna size limitations. Four dynamic calibration techniques are proposed to remove the effects of the undefined distance from the imaging region to colon mucosa. These calibration methods are based on averaging the colonoscopy trajectory frames and subtracting the calibration set from the current frame. The phantom preliminary results show that these calibration methods completely delete the undesired scatter.