Image classification for a time-domain microwave radar system: Experiments with stable modular breast phantoms

In this paper, we report on durable, long-lasting rubber breast phantoms that contain four tissue types (skin, gland, fat, and tumor) that accurately mimic their dielectric properties. An improved fabrication procedure for creating stable high-water content tissue phantoms is demonstrated. The phantoms are made in a modular fashion such that the configuration, including tumor depth, size, and presence of tumor, can be varied as desired. Further, we reconstruct images of the phantoms using our time-domain microwave radar system. The images are then used to test an image classification algorithm that aims to identify if the image under consideration is one of a healthy breast or a breast that contains a malignancy.