US 12,481,077 B2
Apparatus and method for acquiring tomographic images using microwaves
Nadim Conti, Rome (IT)
Assigned to Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, Rome (IT)
Appl. No. 18/268,942
Filed by ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE, Rome (IT)
PCT Filed Dec. 21, 2021, PCT No. PCT/IB2021/062085
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 21, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/137108, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 30, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 102020000031724 (IT), filed on Dec. 21, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0053496 A1, Feb. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. G01T 1/29 (2006.01)
CPC G01T 1/2985 (2013.01) [G01T 1/2992 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for performing tomographies by means of not ionizing electromagnetic waves, the apparatus having a main body which develops around an X axis, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements, the elements configured to;
transmit said not ionizing electromagnetic waves to an imaging area including the X axis, in response to corresponding transmission signals transmitted by a signal generation and reception unit, and
receive said not ionizing electromagnetic waves from that imaging area;
a signal generation and reception unit, operatively connected to the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements and configured to
generate said corresponding transmission signals for the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements, and
receive corresponding return signals from the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements, in response to said not ionizing electromagnetic waves received from that imaging area; and
a signal processing unit, operatively connected to the signal generation and reception unit, configured to-process said corresponding returned signals received by the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements and implement a tomography reconstruction algorithm to obtain a corresponding image;
at least one support comprising at least one guide, arranged on a respective plane in the main body; and
a movement structure configured to move the at least one support according to a rotation movement in said plane;
the support also comprising at least one blade, each blade having one proximal end, connected to said guide through fixing means, and a distal end, connected to one or more of the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements and being configured to allow, in use, a first positioning of at least one of the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements at a distance R from a given point of the X axis and a second positioning, wherein at least one of the plurality of radio transmitting and radio receiving elements is at a distance R′ from said point, with R′ different from R.