Design of Compact Fragment-Type Antenna Array for Microwave-Based Head Imaging Application

Abstract

Specifically designed antennas are needed to meet the needs of head imaging applications where an antenna array is typically used. In this article, the design of a compact fragment-type antenna using a genetic algorithm is proposed. The proposed antenna is fabricated by a low-cost FR4 substrate and covers a 72.4% fractional bandwidth (1.92 to 4.1 GHz), with an average gain of more than 2.02 dBi. The overall structure of the proposed antenna is equivalent to 0.29 λ 0 × 0.19 λ 0, where λ 0 is the corresponding wavelength at 1.92 GHz. The results indicate that the proposed antenna is compact and suitable for microwave-based head imaging. An effective microwave head imaging system with an array of 8 compact fragment-type antennas is designed, with one antenna working as a transmitter and the others working as a receiver in turn. The imaging performance is investigated with blood layer inside the head model using the Microwave Radar-Based Imaging Toolbox open-source software. The detection of the presence and location of stroke is done by analyzing the compact fragment-type antennas’ backscattered signal.