Microwave imaging of cylindrical inhomogeneities based on an analytical forward solver and multiple illuminations

A global optimization procedure for the detection of buried inhomogeneities is extended to the case of multiple illuminations. The object inhomogeneities are schematized as multilayer infinite dielectric cylinders with elliptic cross sections. A recursive analytical procedure is used for the computation of the forward scattering. A functional is constructed in which the field is expressed in series solution of Mathieu functions. Starting by the input scattered data, the iterative minimization of the functional is performed by applying a memetic algorithm. Numerical results are reported showing the advantages of using a multi-illumination process. A preliminary experimental validation is also reported.