Time-domain simulations of a 31-antenna array for breast cancer imaging

Abstract

In this paper we discuss challenges related with time-domain simulations of a complete microwave radar imaging system for breast cancer detection. Two different numerical methods are considered to address this demanding electromagnetic problem featuring 31 ultra-wideband antennas. The first method is the Finite Integration Technique (FIT) applied in a regular grid and implemented in a commercial solver, whereas the second method is an in-house developed Finite-Volume Time-Domain (FVTD) code applied in a tetrahedral mesh. Our work focuses on the fundamental differences between the two approaches for the comprehensive full-wave modeling of the considered problem. The emphasis of the comparison is placed on the computational cost, which reveals the strengths and limitations of both methods for the problem considered.