Comparison of Image Quality Metrics for Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Speed Estimation in Breast Microwave Radar Imaging Scenarios

Breast cancer is one of the most common causes of death amongst women. The earlier the cancer is treated, the better the chances for recovery. One of most promising complimentary imaging modalities for breast cancer detection is Breast Microwave Radar (BMR). The spatial accuracy of BMR images is dependent on the wave propagation speed estimate used to reconstruct the recorded breast structure responses. If an erroneous estimate is used, the resulting images will be spatially inaccurate and may contain artifacts, which can compromise the confidence of the diagnosis. In this paper we compare the fitness of four different image quality metrics (Contrast, Entropy, Tenengrad and Laplacian) when used for electromagnetic wave speed estimation for BMR imaging scenarios. The simulations were done varying the permittivity of the targets and the speed propagation of the wave in the medium. It demonstrated that the use of image quality metrics is a viable tool for BMR electromagnetic wave speed estimation.