Sensitivity maps preparation for electrical capacitance tomography using finite element approach

Abstract

Electrical Capacitance Tomography is part of Electrical Tomography which uses the concept of electric field distribution and it is widely used due to its advantages such as non-invasive, low-cost, high acquisition speed and relatively easy computation. The ECT system involves two computational problems in its mechanism which Forward Problem and Inverse Problem. The forward problem involves the computation of the potentials done at the voltage pick-up electrodes for a given set of current-carrying electrodes. This allows calculation for the distribution of the electrical voltage when the given with condition of known sensor structure and given permittivity distribution. The Forward Problem in this study refers to the sensitivity map which is later used for image reconstruction in the Inverse Problem image. This study explores sensitivity map generation and preparation which can be accomplished using the numerical method, for example, the Finite Element Method. Based on the simulated result, the sensitivity map for each projection shows different strength depending on the position and distance between the electrode pair.