The application's broad, long term
objective is the development of a high space resolution capacitance
sensor arrays for the novel non contact Capacitance Electrical Impedance
Tomography (CEIT) device. Traditional Electrical Impedance Tomography
(EIT) device is a noninvasive, low cost imaging system which has
the potential application in clinic and basic research to supply
with function image, e.g. breast cancer detection. The image quality
relies on the number of electrodes, which usually are attached to
the surface of the subject measured in conventional setup. However,
the number of electrodes is inherently restricted by the limited
surface of the subject and hence becomes the bottleneck for the
improvement of the image quality. Furthermore, the electrode body
interface increases the complexity of the image reconstruction algorithm.
This proposal is to request the funding for a Phase I Seed Grant
to develop a capacitance sensor for a novel non contact EIT device
to improve the ill posed condition, simplify the reconstruction
algorithm and increase the quality of the image. In the new system,
the physically limited number of electrodes can be increased potentially
to unlimited number. The fidelity of the sensor and the CEIT device
will be quantified and calibrated with various phantoms and isolated
biomechanical soft tissue model. |
