Continuous noninvasive tissue temperature monitoring inside of the human body during hyperthermia based on ultra-wideband microwave sensing

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This German-Czech research project (cooperation with Prof. Jan Vrba, CTU Prague) aims for the development of a non-invasive continuous tissue temperature measurement and imaging technique inside the human body by means of ultra-wideband (UWB) microwave sensing. Such systems are of utmost clinical importance, especially for temperature monitoring during hyperthermia. Previously proposed approaches of non-invasive temperature measurement could not be established in the clinical workflow so far. That is why invasive temperature probes are still in use despite their associated risks. The goal of this project is a new non-invasive method exploiting the temperature dependent tissue permittivity over a very broad frequency range (about 6 GHz) for temperature measurement and estimation, respectively. The primary envisaged application field is hyperthermia treatment. Beyond that, this project aims to contribute to force the application of this cost efficient and compact sensor technology for non-invasive accurate clinical tissue temperature monitoring in general.The following topics will be addressed to solve this innovative task:- Temperature dependent dielectric microwave spectroscopy of tissue, tissue imitates and magnetic nanoparticle (MNP) suspensions- Conceptual design of the UWB measurement system (especially antenna design) and optimization of working conditions (polarization, bandwidth) for use during microwave hyperthermia treatment- Extraction and analysis of temperature dependent UWB signatures- Development of real-time capable signal processing for robust detection and quantification of temperature changes inside of tissue considering drift, movement artifacts, tissue heterogeneity and perfusion- 3D imaging of temperature distribution in homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms