Finite Element Analysis of a Wideband Microwave Tomography System for Potential Medical Imaging

In this paper, we present two in-house finite element analysis methods for a wideband microwave tomography system setup. A hybrid vector three-dimensional (3D) formulation and a scalar two-dimensional (2D) formulation of the finite element method (FEM) for the forward model in microwave imaging are proposed. Simulations with dispersive materials of the system setup are performed in CST Microwave Studio and FEM formulations. We then compare the value of the S-parameters between the data from CST and FEM both in 3D and 2D, with the results showing a good agreement at different frequencies. To that end, we introduce a convenient calibration procedure to match the S-parameters and electric field values used in reconstruction algorithms.