The Application of Linear Reconstruction Techniques to the Imaging of Microwave Lossy Objects

Z Wu and A T Nugroho

Department of Electrical Engineering and Electronics UMIST, Manchester M60 1QD, UK E-mail: wuOfs5.ee.umist.ac.uk

Abstract The application of linear reconstruction techniques, namely, the Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) and the Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART), to the reconstruction of the microwave attenuation coefficient distribution of 2D and 3D lossy dielectric objects is investigated. The reconstructed 2D and 3D images using both techniques are compared for noise-less data and for data with a finite signalto-noise ratio. It shows that the ART generally produces better images. However, the SART has a less effect from the noise.

1. INTRODUCTION
The development of microwave tomographic imaging systems has received an increased interest in the recent years, as they may be used as an alternative to other imaging systems based on x-rays and y-rays [l]. Microwave tomographic imaging can be made by illuminating the object with microwave fields at different angles and measuring the scattered or attenuated fields produced by the object at each illumination [2-41. The multi-angle illuminations can be made using multiple transmitting antennas, and the measurements of radiated fields using multiple receiving antennas, so that the object remains to be static. The image of the object can be obtained from the measured .data using a reconstruction algorithm. Since microwave diffraction would in general occur inside the object, the image reconstruction would

be non-linear, and more complicated than that for x-ray and y-ray systems[2]. The solution would be sensitive to the selection of initial parameters as a result of the ill-possedness of the inverse problem[31. However, for lossy dielectric objects, the effect of diffraction inside the object can be neglected so that linear reconstruction techniques such as the Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (ART) and Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART) can be used to solve the inverse problem[5-8]. In this paper, the application of both ART and SART to the image reconstruction of 2D and 3D microwave lossy dielectric objects is investigated. The reconstructed images of 2D and 3D models using both techniques will be presented and compared for noise-less data and for data with a finite signal-to-noise ratio.
2. THEORY

Consider a cylindrical object of an arbitrary cross-section surrounded by a homogeneous medium, such as water, in which microwave transmitting and receiving antennas are placed circumferencially with equal spacing around the object as shown in Figure 1. Assuming the dielectric constant of the object does not differ very much from the exterior homogeneous medium and antennas are matched to the medium in term of impedance, the microwave transmission loss across the object will mainly depend on the attenuation constant along the direct propagation path. For one particular transmission from TJ to RJ as shown in Figure 1,

246

the total measurable transmission loss along the propagation path can be written as
P =la.dl
(1)

r
ai = a j +
k+l
k
1

where a is the attenuation constant of microwave power along the path. As a numerical approximation, the object is divided into N cells of identical areas. In each cell, the attenuation constant a(x,y) is also assumed to be the same. At thejrhcell, a(xj,y,) = a,. Since microwaves can propagate along the path with a limited width, which is referred as a ray width in ray terms, the total attenuation given in ( 1 ) would need to take into account the attenuation constants not only at those cells on the path, but also at other cells within a defined ray width. The line integral in (1) is then referred as a raysum. The raysum of the irhray with a ray width z, as illustrated in Figure 1, is given by
tw,JaJ =p,
,=I

The convergence of the iteration in (3) or (5) is monitored by using the residue error function:

with Qk+l =
;=I
j=l

wijaJ+'

(7)

and Po is the summation of all measured raysums. The iteration process will end when the condition
Qerr = ErrQ

'+'- ErrQ

I < 1O4

where

i = l... M

(2)

and w!,is the weighting factor for a, with the incidence of the irk ray. The weighting factor wl, can be taken to be unity when the centre of the cell is inside the width of the irh ray or a fraction of the area of the j r hcell inside the ray width, which should be comparable to or less than the size of the cell [9]. To solve (2) for attenuation constants, the iterative method proposed by Kaczmarz [5] can be used, and iterative equation for a is given by [61
Pi - 9 ; a ik + l = a : +?.wii.

is satisfied or the maximum number of iteration is reached. In the case of simulation, the value of attenuation constant at each cell, denoted by ac,,j, can be set for the solution of measured raysums in (2). The error of the reconstruction can then be evaluated against each iteration using the error function
(9)

The stability of the iteration process can be tested by introducing some noise to the measured raysums, with the signal-to-noise ratio defined as in [ 111 as follows

(3)

where q , = x w , , a ' ,
J=I

(4)

3. OBJECT MODELS
Both 2D and 3D models of the object have a diameter of 12cm and a length of 2.3cm. The system is considered to operate at a microwave frequency, with the object placed in water. The

In the implementation of ART, the values of a are updated for each ray considered. In the implementation of SART, the values of a are not updated until all rays are considered. The iterative equation for a using SART is given by

3D model consists of five layers, and is formed using three different dielectric materials with the attenuation constants listed in, Table 1.

I Material I

. a (Neperkm)

B I 1.5 C 3.7 Table 1: Attenuation constant of dielectric materials

4. NUMERICAL RESULTS 4.1 2D Reconstruction

The image of the 2D model is shown in Figure 2(a). In the 2D reconstruction, a total of 32 antennas are used for transmitting and receiving, and placed at a radius of 8cm around the object. The cross-section is divided into 529 cells with 419 cells inside the 8cm radius. The reconstructed images of the 2D model using ART and SART are shown in Figures 2(b) and 2(c) for a set of noise-less ruysum data obtained using (2) after 100 iterations with zero initial values and a ray width of 4mm. The error Erra of (8) for the image produced using ART is 7%, and that using SART is 17%. The ART produces a better image. When the noise is introduced with a SNR of 30dB, the images are produced using both techniques with an Erra of 18% and 17% respectively.

model shown in Figure 3(a)-(e). With the use of zero initial values and a ray width of 4mm in diameter, the reconstructed five layers using ART are shown in Figures 3(a)-(e). The images are well reconstructed with a total error of 3% after 100 iterations. As for the 2D case, the images reconstructed using the SART have a larger error. However, when the SNR is reduced to 30dB, the SART tends to produce better images than the ART.

5. DISCUSION AND CONCLUSIONS

The ART and SART have been applied to the reconstruction of both 2D and 3D models for microwave imaging of lossy objects, in which the use of multiple transmitting and receiving antennas keeps the object under imaging static. The images are well reconstructed using ART, and ART produces better images. However, the SART has a less effect from the noise. The images can be improved by using an increased number of transmitting and receiving antennas, and an increased number of iterations.

6. REFERENCE
A. Macovski, Medical Imaging System, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1983. J. C. Bolomey and C. Pichot, Int. J. Imaging System, ~01.2, 1990, ~ ~ 1 4 4 - 1 5 6 5 . N. Joachimowicz, C. Pichot, and J. P. Hugonin, IEEE Trans. Ant,. & Prop., vo1.39, 1991, pp1742-51. Franchois, and C. Pichot, IEEE Trans. Ant. & Prop., vol. 45, 1977, pp.202-215. A. C. Kak, and M. Slaney, Principles of Computerised Tomographic Imaging, IEEE Press, New York, 1988. R. Gordon, IEEE Trans. on Nuclear Science, vol.NS-21, 1977, pp. 78-96. R. Maini, M. F. Iskander, C. H. Durney, Proc. IEEE, vol. 68, 1980, pp. 1550-1555. R. Maini, Magdy, M. F. Iskander, C. H. Durney, M.Bergren, Proc. IEEE, vol69, 1981, pp1517-19. A. T. Nugroho and Z. Wu, Microwave Imaging of 3D Lossy Dielectric Objects Using Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques, 1St World Congress on Industrial Process Tomography, April, 1999, Manchester.

4.2 3D Reconstruction
The images of five layers of the 3D model are shown in Figure 3(a-e). For the 3D reconstruction, a total of 96 antennas are used with 3x32 antennas placed circumferencially with equal spacing on the top, middle and bottom layers of the 3D object at a radius of 8cm. Each antenna is arranged to transmit and receive sequentially so as to create multi-views with the object remaining static. The division of the cells on each layer is the same as for the 2D model. The measured raysums are obtained using (2) with the given values of a for the

3D model consists of five layers, and is formed using three different dielectric materials with the attenuation constants listed in Table 1.
Material A B C

a (Neperkm)
1.1 1.5 3.7

4. NUMERICAL RESULTS

model shown in Figure 3(a)-(e). With the use of zero initial values and a ray width of 4mm in diameter, the reconstructed five layers using ART are shown in Figures 3(a)-(e). The images are well reconstructed with a total error of 3% after 100 iterations. As for the 2D case, the images reconstructed using the SART have a larger error. However, when the SNR is reduced to 30dB, the SART tends to produce better images than the ART.
5. DISCUSION AND CONCLUSIONS

4.1 2D Reconstruction
The image of the 2D model is shown in Figure 2(a). In the 2D reconstruction, a total of 32 antennas are used for transmitting and receiving, and placed at a radius of 8cm around the object. The cross-section is divided into 529 cells with 419 cells inside the 8cm radius. The reconstructed images of the 2D model using ART and SART are shown in Figures 2(b) and 2(c) for a set of noise-less ruysum data obtained using (2) after 100 iterations with zero initial values and a ray width of 4mm. The error Erra of (8) for the image produced using ART is 7%, and that using SART is 17%. The ART produces a better image. When the noise is introduced with a SNR of 30dB, the images are produced using both techniques with an Erra of 18% and 17% respectively.

The ART and SART have been applied to the reconstruction of both 2D and 3D models for microwave imaging of lossy objects, in which the use of multiple transmitting and receiving antennas keeps the object under imaging static. The images are well reconstructed using ART, and ART produces better images. However, the SART has a less effect from the noise. The images can be improved by using an increased number of transmitting and receiving antennas, and an increased number of iterations.

REFERENCE
A. Macovski, Medical Imaging System, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1983. J. C. Bolomey and C. Pichot, Int. J. Imaging System, ~01.2, 1990, ~ ~ 1 4 4 - 1 5 6 5 . N. Joachimowicz, C. Pichot, and J. P. Hugonin, IEEE Trans. Ant. & Prop., ~01.39, 1991, pp1742-51. A. Franchois, and C. Pichot, IEEE Trans. Ant. & Prop., vol. 45, 1997, pp.202-215. A. C. Kak, and M. Slaney, Principles of Computerised Tomographic Imaging, IEEE Press, New York, 1988. R. Gordon, IEEE Trans. on Nuclear Science, vol.NS-21, 1977, pp. 78-96. R. Maini, M. F. Iskander, C. H. Durney, Proc. IEEE, vol. 68, 1980, pp. 1550-1555. R. Maini, Magdy, M. F. Iskander, C. H. Durney, M.Bergren, Proc. IEEE, vol69, 1981, pp1517-19. A. T. Nugroho and Z. Wu, Microwave Imaging of 3D Lossy Dielectric Objects Using Algebraic Reconstruction Techniques, lstWorld Congress on Industrial Process Tomography, April, 1999, Manchester.

4.2 3D Reconstruction
The images of five layers of the 3D model are shown in Figure 3(a-e). For the 3D reconstruction, a total of 96 antennas are used with 3x32 antennas placed circurnferencially with equal spacing on the top, middle and bottom layers of the 3D object at a radius of 8cm. Each antenna is arranged to transmit and receive sequentially so as to create multi-views with the object remaining static. The division of the cells on each layer is the same as for the 2D model. The measured raysums are obtained using (2). with the given values of a for the

249