Fast Modeling Methods for Estimating Imaging Performance of Whole Body Screening

The simulation of the millimeter wave imaging system for whole body screening before a safety inspection manufactured is a challenging work. The conventional physical optics (PO) method is a proper high-frequency approximation method to solve the forward problem of imaging. In this letter, a modified PO method is used to calculate not only metal scatterer but also nonmetal dielectric medium. A ray tracing method and its modification are proposed to further fast estimate the performance of the multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) imaging system. The radiation pattern of transmitter or receiver is taken into account, then the rough imaging performance of arbitrary MIMO system on arbitrary human posture can be acquired in seconds to make the system design flexible and convenient. The image reconstruction of the proposed method for a human body model with dielectric skin medium and metal pistol has demonstrated the applicability to real-life applications.