Comparison of radar-based microwave imaging algorithms applied to experimental breast phantoms

Microwave imaging is a promising imaging modality for the early detection of breast cancer. The two most important signal processing components of a radar-based microwave imaging system are the early-time artifact removal and the image reconstruction algorithm. Several image reconstruction algorithms have been developed and their performance has been evaluated in a number of studies. However, most of these evaluation studies were either performed on numerical breast phantoms or used an idealized artifact removal algorithm. In this paper, a range of both data independent and data adaptive imaging algorithms are evaluated using experimental breast phantoms in combination with a realistic artifact removal algorithm. The clutter rejection capabilities of each algorithm are assessed in the presence of experimental noise and residual artifacts using a range of appropriate image quality metrics.