Microwave diagnostic tool

Early work using microwaves as a diagnostic tool relied upon measuring a secondary effect of the dielectric properties of the material under interrogation, i.e., reflection, absorption and transmission. The two fundamental microwave parameters, e and e" are related to the food or material composition. These two fundamental parameters also determine the reflection, absorption and transmission of the materials exposed to a microwave signal. Thus by measuring the amplitude and phase of the reflected or transmitted wave, or the characteristics of absorption of a wave through the material, one is able to empirically establish a relationship to the constituency of the product. 

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