Ultrasound-guided microwave imaging of breast cancer: tissue phantom and pilot clinical experiments.
Microwave imaging promises high contrast between tumor and normal breast tissues, but its spatial resolution is limited. Here, we present a multimodality approach for high-resolution microwave imaging, where microwave image reconstruction is structurally guided by ultrasound imaging. The combined imaging concept is demonstrated using tissue phantom measurements obtained from a 16 x 15 transmitter/receiver microwave imaging system and a modified B-mode ultrasound system. With the geometry of the target and background known a priori from ultrasound, successful dielectric property images are recovered using a finite element-based reconstruction algorithm. We show that a target as small as 1.2 mm in diameter can be imaged with the multimodality approach, whereas it is impossible to detect such a small-size object using microwave imaging alone. The pilot clinical studies on two cases suggest that breast tumors can be much more accurately detected by the multimodality method.
Jiang
Huabei
H
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-6131, USA. hjiang@bme.ufl.edu
Li
Changqing
C
Pearlstone
David
D
Fajardo
Laurie L
LL
D000465:Algorithms; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008872:Microwaves; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods