Wearable/man-portable electromagnetic tomographic imaging

Abstract

A system for wearable/man-portable electromagnetic tomographic imaging includes wearable headgear adapted to receive a human head within, a position determination system, electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware, and a computer system. The electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware collectively generates an electromagnetic field that passes into the headgear and receives the electromagnetic field after being scattered/interferenced by the human head within. The computer system performs electromagnetic tomographic imaging based on the received electromagnetic field.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for wearable/man-portable electromagnetic tomographic imaging, comprising:
 wearable headgear, adapted to receive a human head within walls that are made at least partly of a material that is non-transparent with respect to the generated electromagnetic field and that include a plurality of electromagnetic windows that are each independently opened or closed via a respective microgate;   electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware collectively configured to generate an electromagnetic field that passes into the headgear through at least one open electromagnetic window and receives the electromagnetic field passing out of at least one open electromagnetic window after being scattered/interferenced by the human head within;   a position determination system configured to determine position information pertaining to the wearable headgear with respect to an external frame of reference, wherein the external frame of reference includes a location of the transmitting/receiving hardware or the location of the transmitting/receiving hardware is established relative to the external frame of reference;   a computer system configured to perform electromagnetic tomographic imaging based upon the generated and received electromagnetic field, upon position information from the position determination system, and upon spatial location information for each of the open electromagnetic windows;   wherein the spatial location information for each of the electromagnetic windows is defined with respect to the headgear, the external frame of reference, and/or the transmitting/receiving hardware.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of electromagnetic windows are distributed in the walls so as to surround the imaging domain. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the microgates are controlled such that the electromagnetic field enters into the headgear through only one electromagnetic window at a time. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the microgates are controlled such that the electromagnetic field enters into the headgear through a plurality of electromagnetic windows at a time. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the microgates are controlled such that the electromagnetic field leaves the headgear through only one electromagnetic window at a time. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the microgates are controlled such that the electromagnetic field leaves the headgear through a plurality of electromagnetic windows at a time. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein each microgate is individually coded. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein, as the electromagnetic field enters the headgear through an open electromagnetic window, the coding of the microgate for the open electromagnetic window is applied to the electromagnetic field. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the headgear is in the form of a deformable hat. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the headgear is in the form of a non-deformable helmet. 
     
     
         11 . A system for wearable/man-portable electromagnetic tomographic imaging, comprising:
 wearable headgear, adapted to receive a human head within walls that are made at least partly of a material that is non-transparent with respect to the generated electromagnetic field and that include a plurality of electromagnetic windows;   electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware, located outside of, physically separate from, and spaced apart from, the headgear, collectively configured to generate an electromagnetic field that passes into the headgear through the electromagnetic windows and receives the electromagnetic field passing out of the electromagnetic windows after being scattered/interferenced by the human head within;   a position determination system configured to determine position information pertaining to the wearable headgear with respect to an external frame of reference, wherein the external frame of reference includes a location of the transmitting/receiving hardware or the location of the transmitting/receiving hardware is established relative to the external frame of reference; and   a computer system configured to perform electromagnetic tomographic imaging based upon the generated and received electromagnetic field, upon position information from the position determination system, and upon spatial location information for each of the electromagnetic windows;   wherein the spatial information for each of the open electromagnetic windows is defined with respect to the headgear, the external frame of reference, and/or the transmitting/receiving hardware.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of electromagnetic windows are distributed in the walls so as to surround the imaging domain. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of electromagnetic windows have known spatial locations, wherein the spatial locations for each of the electromagnetic windows is defined with respect to the headgear, the external frame of reference, and/or the transmitting/receiving hardware. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein knowledge of the spatial locations of the plurality of electromagnetic windows is determined via the position determination system. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein knowledge of the spatial locations of the plurality of electromagnetic windows is established independently of the position determination system. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the position determination system determines information about the position of the headgear, and wherein the computer system performs magnetic tomographic imaging based upon the received electromagnetic field and upon the headgear position information from the position determination system. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the position determination system determines information about the positions of the electromagnetic windows, and wherein the computer system performs magnetic tomographic imaging based upon the received electromagnetic field and upon the electromagnetic windows position information from the position determination system. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the position determination system includes a first position determination system that determines information about the position of the headgear, wherein the position determination system includes a second position determination system that determines information about the positions of the electromagnetic windows, and wherein the computer system performs magnetic tomographic imaging based upon the received electromagnetic field and upon the headgear position information and electromagnetic windows position information from the position determination system. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the headgear is in the form of a deformable hat. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the headgear is in the form of a non-deformable helmet. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware includes transmitting hardware and/or receiving hardware that is man-portable. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware is a small cellular base station. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware is physically separate from the headgear. 
     
     
         24 . Wearable headgear, for use in electromagnetic tomographic imaging, comprising:
 a hollow structure having walls made at least partially of a material that is non-transparent with respect to an electromagnetic field generated by electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware that is physically separate from the wearable headgear;   a plurality of electromagnetic windows distributed in the walls so as to surround the imaging domain; and   a plurality of microgates that are configured to open and close the electromagnetic windows so as to control whether the electromagnetic field generated by the electromagnetic transmitting/receiving hardware enters and/or leaves therethrough.   
     
     
         25 . The wearable headgear of  claim 24 , wherein each microgate is individually coded.