Microwave Imaging of the Breast: Consistency of Measurements Over Time

Microwave imaging is of increasing interest for monitoring breast health and treatment. In these applications, the consistency of results over time is important to characterize so that relevant changes can be distinguished from normal measurement and tissue variation. In this paper, we analyze the consistency of microwave imaging when scanning frequently over several weeks, similar to the treatment monitoring timeframe. A custom microwave transmission system was used to acquire 15 scans from a breast phantom and 14-15 scans from each of 5 volunteers. As expected, the breast phantom showed high similarity when comparing signals, property estimates, and images at different time points. Scans of each volunteer also generally demonstrated consistency over time, as well as between right and left breasts. The characterization of consistency from scanning healthy women provides a baseline from which significant changes due to disease or treatment can be identified.