Finite-element analysis of microwave scattering from a three-dimensional human head model for brain stroke detection

In this paper, a detailed analysis of microwave (MW) scattering from a three-dimensional (3D) anthropomorphic human head model is presented. It is the first time that the finite-element method (FEM) has been deployed to study the MW scattering phenomenon of a 3D realistic head model for brain stroke detection. A major contribution of this paper is to add anatomically more realistic details to the human head model compared with the literature available to date. Using the MRI database, a 3D numerical head model was developed and segmented into 21 different types through a novel tissue-mapping scheme and a mixed-model approach. The heterogeneous and frequency-dispersive dielectric properties were assigned to brain tissues using the same mapping technique. To mimic the simulation set-up, an eight-elements antenna array around the head model was designed using dipole antennae. Two types of brain stroke (haemorrhagic and ischaemic) at various locations inside the head model were then analysed...