Cognitive Radar for Microwave Breast Cancer Detection – A Simulation Study

Abstract:
Microwave imaging is a promising technology for breast cancer detection since it provides independent information about malignant tissue compared to ultrasound or X-ray mammography. Since the tumour can occur close to the surface or deep within the tissue it can be advantageous to alter the excitation signal adaptively for higher detection probability. The contribution of this paper is to investigate on a simulation basis how the adaptation of the excitation waveform in a cognitive radar (CR) framework can improve the detection of breast cancer in the sense of an automatic self-learning frequency adjustment.