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Technical Note: Design of a handheld dipole antenna for a compact thermoacoustic imaging system
Author(s) -
Huang Lin,
Ge Shaoli,
Zheng Zhu,
Jiang Huabei
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1002/mp.13294
Subject(s) - antenna (radio) , dipole antenna , mobile device , acoustics , antenna measurement , radiation pattern , computer science , optics , physics , telecommunications , operating system
Purpose Conventional antenna used in thermoacoustic imaging (TAI) is often bulky, making it difficult to translate TAI from the bench to the clinic. In this paper, we proposed a handheld dipole antenna which will be a good candidate for the construction of a compact TAI system. Methods Here, we propose a TAI system based on a handheld dipole antenna with an aperture of 6 cm and a weight of 230 g. Compensation of the electric field attenuation for such a system was also investigated. Results Compared to the conventional open‐ended waveguide and pyramidal horn antenna used in TAI, our results reveal that the electric field attenuation induced distortion is effectively reduced by using the attenuation factor 1/ r 2 for compensation and that the handheld dipole antenna provides the highest efficiency of microwave delivery. Conclusions This study suggests that the handheld dipole antenna has the potential to be utilized for the construction of a compact TAI system, making TAI more suitable for preclinical and clinical applications.