A Microwave Imaging System Prototype for Liver Ablation Monitoring: Design and Initial Experimental Validation

Liver cancer is one of the most deadly diseases worldwide with an increasing yearly fatality rate. Thermal ablation treatments are considered to be an effective alternative to conventional surgery, but the lack of an effective imaging modality to monitor the treatment prevents from a full exploitation of their therapeutic potential. As such, there is an increasing interest in developing alternative imaging modalities. In this framework, due to the fact that thermally treated tissue exhibits different dielectric properties as compared to untreated tissue, microwave imaging is a potential candidate, offering the possibility of performing the treatment monitoring task in a truly non-invasive way and by means of a portable and low cost apparatus. In this communication the prototype of a microwave imaging system to monitor thermal ablation of liver is presented together with its initial experimental validation. The observed results, although still preliminary, confirm the anticipated treatment monitoring capabilities of microwave imaging.