Aims and objectives
Microwave imaging has received increasing attention in the last decades,
in particular for its breast cancer detection applications,
encouraged by considerable difference between dielectric properties of malignant and normal tissues at microwave frequencies.
Specifically,
as shown in [1,
2],
a significant contrast between healthy breast tissue and malignant breast tissue is present; this contrast is shown to be up to a factor of 5 in conductivity and permittivity.
Meanwhile,
newer studies suggest the existence of this contrast only between fatty and malignant breast tissues,
and...
Methods and materials
Clinical.
We present the results of the first 16 volunteers who have been recruited and imaged under a protocol approved by the Ethical Committee of Regione Umbria,
Italy (N.
6845/15/AV/DM of 14/10/2015,
N.
10352/17/NCAV of 16/03/2017).
The protocol concerns a feasibility study for detection of breast cancers using the proposed microwave mammogram apparatus,
with the aim of quantifying the potential of the proposed microwave mammogram apparatus to be used for screening.
The informed consent was obtained from all volunteers; moreover,
4 volunteers underwent the microwave...
Results
Fig 3 shows the microwave images obtained for subject 11R (a) and subject 08R (b); as pointed out before,
to allow intra-subject comparison,
the two images have been normalized to unitary average of the intensity.
Axes are given in meter.
Intensity is given in arbitrary unit,
with a scale from 0 to 2.
Microwave images are homogeneity maps of tissues' dielectric properties (both dielectric constant and conductivity),
and are given here as 2D images in the azimuthal plane i.e.
coronal plane.
A certain level of...
Conclusion
Images obtained using the proposed apparatus are intensity maps representing homogeneity of breast tissues' dielectric properties (dielectric constant and conductivity).
Images obtained using the proposed apparatus can detect and locate mismatches in the region of transitions of the tissues.
As the breast is constituted of non-homogeneous tissues,
a certain level of mismatch can be also seen in the healthy breasts; such mismatch will be related to the subjects breast anatomy.
A classification of the mismatch in the microwave images can be performed through the parameter...
Personal information
Dr.
Gianluigi Tiberi,
[email protected]
UBT Srl
Spin Off of the University of Perugia
Via Santa Maria della Spina,
25
06081 Rivotorto di Assisi (PG)
ITALY
Dr.
Michele Duranti,
[email protected]
Department of Diagnostic Imaging,
Perugia Hospital
Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini e Laboratorio,
Ospedale Santa Maria della Misericordia
06129 Perugia (PG)
ITALY
References
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Li and S.C.
Hagness,
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2001.
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Bond,
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Li,
S.C.
Hagness,
B.D.
Van Veen,
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IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation,
Vol.: 51 ,
No.
8,
Year: 2003,
pp 1690 1705.
[3] N.K.
Nikolova,
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IEEE Microwave Magazine,
vol.12,
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Lazebnik,
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