title: Classification of breast tissue using a laboratory system for small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS).
abstract: Structural changes in breast tissue at the nanometre scale have been shown to differentiate between tissue types using synchrotron SAXS techniques. Classification of breast tissues using information acquired from a laboratory SAXS camera source could possibly provide a means of adopting SAXS as a viable diagnostic procedure. Tissue samples were obtained from surgical waste from 66 patients and structural components of the tissues were examined between q = 0.25 and 2.3 nm(-1). Principal component analysis showed that the amplitude of the fifth-order axial Bragg peak, the magnitude of the integrated intensity and the full-width at half-maximum of the fat peak were significantly different between tissue types. A discriminant analysis showed that excellent classification can be achieved; however, only 30% of the tissue samples provided the 16 variables required for classification. This suggests that the presence of disease is represented by a combination of factors, rather than one specific trait. A closer examination of the amorphous scattering intensity showed not only a trend of increased scattering intensity with disease severity, but also a corresponding decrease in the size of the scatterers contributing to this intensity.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. sabeena.sidhu@nhs.net
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sidhu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Falzon
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: K K W
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Siu
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020894:Microfibrils / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011859:Radiography; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017356:Synchrotrons; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction / Q000379:methods*