The dielectric properties of tissues can be important indicators of physiological changes. For a bulk tissue sample, the dielectric properties are directly related to the ratio of the properties of the constituent components. Changes in these components may be used to indicate underlying changes in tissues. Water content variations have been linked to the range of dielectric properties of healthy breast tissues, as well as the associated differences in properties between normal and malignant tissues. These defining aspects of the dielectric properties have important ramifications for other physiological indications including bone property changes with age, localized property changes associated with brain activation, and skin property changes after severe trauma such as burns.

Widely recognized barriers to developing microwave imaging systems are related to both algorithms and hardware. Potentially, the most daunting issues for both radar and tomographic systems relate to actual hardware implementations. Practical concerns such as noise figure, antenna efficiency, multipath signal suppression, mutual coupling, and other issues can confound even the most basic measurements. We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that describe the continuing efforts to understand the challenges in both radar and tomography implementations, as well as new findings in emerging applications. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Novel hardware systems and parameter assessment studies
• Novel sensors and tissue illumination configurations
• Breast imaging systems
• Systems targeted to emerging applications such as bone imaging and brain activation imaging

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijbi/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: