Microwave thermoacoustic tomography (MTT) uses microwave pulse-induced thermoelastic pressure waves to form planar or tomographic images. Since the generation and detection of thermoelastic pressure waves depends on dielectric permittivity, specific heat, thermal expansion, and acoustic properties of tissue, microwave thermoacoustic imaging possesses the characteristic features of a dual-modality imaging system. The unique attributes of the high contrast offered by microwave absorption and the fine spatial resolution furnished by ultrasound are being explored to provide a nonionizing and noninvasive imaging modality for characterization of tissues, especially for early detection of breast cancer. This paper reviews the research being conducted in developing MTT imaging for medical diagnosis. It discusses the science of thermoelastic wave generation and propagation in biological tissues, the design of prototype MTT systems, the reconstruction of tomographic images, and the application and accomplishment of prototype MTT systems in phantom models and experimental subjects.

微波热声断层扫描 (MTT) 使用微波脉冲诱导的热弹性压力波来形成平面或断层图像。由于热弹性压力波的产生和检测取决于组织的介电常数、比热、热膨胀和声学特性，因此微波热声成像具有双模态成像系统的特征。正在探索微波吸收提供的高对比度和超声波提供的精细空间分辨率的独特属性，以提供一种非电离和非侵入性成像方式来表征组织，尤其是早期检测乳腺癌。本文回顾了在开发用于医学诊断的 MTT 成像方面正在进行的研究。