On the Feasibility of Breast Cancer Imaging Systems at Millimeter-Waves Frequencies

Meo, Simona Di; Espin-Lopez, P. F.; Martellosio, A.; Pasian, Marco; Matrone, Giulia; Bozzi, Maurizio; Magenes, Giovanni; Mazzanti, Andrea; Perregrini, Luca; Svelto, F.; Summers, Paul; Renne, Giuseppe; Preda, Lorenzo; Bellomi, Massimo

doi:10.1109/tmtt.2017.2672938

Cited by 88 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In microwave imaging of the breast, the retrieval of dielectric properties—permittivity and conductivity, whose values differ relatively largely between the aforementioned tissues—is the primary goal. In this regard, another modality of interest is millimeter-wave imaging that can combine high resolution with high contrast and has been recently investigated for breast cancer detection [ 67 , 68 ]. This study focuses on microwave imaging in the near field and introduces a potential solution ( Section 5 ) to alleviate the limited resolution problem and other challenges that exist at microwave frequencies.…”

Section: Microwave Breast Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Results of a New Auxiliary Mechatronic Near-Field Radar System to 3D Mammography for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Ghanbarzadeh-Dagheyan

Molaei

Obermeier

et al. 2018

Sensors

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Accurate and early detection of breast cancer is of high importance, as it is directly associated with the patients' overall well-being during treatment and their chances of survival. Uncertainties in current breast imaging methods can potentially cause two main problems: (1) missing newly formed or small tumors; and (2) false alarms, which could be a source of stress for patients. A recent study at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) indicates that using Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) can reduce the number of false alarms, when compared to conventional mammography. Despite the image quality enhancement DBT provides, the accurate detection of cancerous masses is still limited by low radiological contrast (about 1%) between the fibro-glandular tissue and affected tissue at X-ray frequencies. In a lower frequency region, at microwave frequencies, the contrast is comparatively higher (about 10%) between the aforementioned tissues; yet, microwave imaging suffers from low spatial resolution. This work reviews conventional X-ray breast imaging and describes the preliminary results of a novel near-field radar imaging mechatronic system (NRIMS) that can be fused with the DBT, in a co-registered fashion, to combine the advantages of both modalities. The NRIMS consists of two antipodal Vivaldi antennas, an XY positioner, and an ethanol container, all of which are particularly designed based on the DBT physical specifications. In this paper, the independent performance of the NRIMS is assessed by (1) imaging a bearing ball immersed in sunflower oil and (2) computing the heat Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) due to the electromagnetic power transmitted into the breast. The preliminary results demonstrate that the system is capable of generating images of the ball. Furthermore, the SAR results show that the system complies with the standards set for human trials. As a result, a configuration based on this design might be suitable for use in realistic clinical applications.

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Section: Microwave Breast Imagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Results of a New Auxiliary Mechatronic Near-Field Radar System to 3D Mammography for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Ghanbarzadeh-Dagheyan

Molaei

Obermeier

et al. 2018

Sensors

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“…Nevertheless, the idea of using millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies has been recently explored, aiming at a possible use on breasts with a high fat content, by working on the dielectric characterization of breast tissues, the fabrication of breast phantoms suited for mm-wave operations, and the validation of the working principle on simulated and preliminary setups [7][8][9][10][24][25][26][27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assume that at the beginning of the acquisition the transmitting antenna (#1) is in x_#1 = 0 mm, while the receiving antenna (#2) is in x_#2 = This is a simplifying hypothesis for what concerns the overall power budget, and the creation of multiple reflections within the propagation medium. However, on the one hand, the possibility of accounting for the skin losses as well, when adopting dedicated mm-wave transmit/receive modules, was already demonstrated [24]. On the other hand, possible strong multiple reflections (certainly increased by the skin, but at any rate created even by the sole presence of the air-fat interface of the phantoms used in this work, which intentionally does not use any coupling medium) can be largely addressed adopting image-formation algorithms more sophisticated than the DAS algorithm [29].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, this simplifying hypothesis is included to focus the attention on the main aspect (penetration depth at mm-wave frequencies), compensating for the sub-optimum power budget provided by a standard Vector Network Analyzer (VNA), and not confusing the results with more complex image-formation techniques, DAS being sufficient for the aim of this work, to compensate for the multiple reflections created by the air-fat interface. However, although due to the limitations of the standard VNA we used (especially its Noise Figure, NF), it was not possible to insert the skin layer or reduce the scanning time (about one hour, as explained below), the contribution of the skin was included in the theoretical calculation [24].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Experimental Validation on Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms of Millimeter-Wave Imaging for Breast Cancer Detection

2021

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Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death among women; to decrease the death rate for this disease, early detection plays a key role. Recently, microwave imaging systems have been proposed as an alternative to the current techniques, but they suffer from poor resolution due to the low frequencies involved. In this paper, for the first time, an innovative millimeter-wave imaging system for early-stage breast cancer detection is proposed and experimentally verified on different breast phantoms. This has the potential to achieve superior resolution for breasts with a high volumetric percentage of adipose tissue, and the merit to overcome the common misconception that millimeter-waves cannot achieve useful penetration depths for biological applications. Three phantoms were prepared according to the dielectric properties of human breast ex vivo tissues in the frequency range [0.5–50] GHz. Two cylindrical inclusions made by water and gelatin or agar, mimicking dielectric properties of neoplastic tissues, were embedded in the phantom at different depths up to 3 cm. Two double ridge waveguides, with mono-modal frequency band equal to [18–40] GHz, were used to synthetize a linear array of 24 elements in 28 positions, acquiring signals with a Vector Network Analyzer. The images were reconstructed by applying the Delay and Sum algorithm to calibrated data. The feasibility of a new imaging system with a central working frequency of about 30 GHz is experimentally demonstrated for the first time, and a target detection capability up to 3 cm within the phantom is shown. The presented results pave the way for a possible use of millimeter-waves to image non-superficial neoplasms in the breast.

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“…Recently, Di Meo et al . [5] demonstrated an experiment with rectangular waveguides, operating at 30 GHz, to detect cancerous tumours in ex vivo breast models. However, the results have not been verified by practical applications yet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra‐wideband on‐body elliptical monopole antenna

Nguyen

Krozer

Moll

et al. 2021

Electronics Letters

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This study presents an ultra-wideband, elliptical slot, planar monopole antenna for early breast cancer microwave imaging. The on-body antenna's operation is optimised by direct contact with the patient's skin. With a compact size of 9 × 7 mm, the antenna covers a wide bandwidth from 16 to 24 GHz for reflection coefficients lower than-10 dB. Besides, it also features an electrode for electrical impedance tomography applications. Verification on a volunteer's breast gives an excellent agreement with the simulation for the defined bandwidth. Furthermore, as the first stage of the system's characterisation, pork fat is also used to demonstrate the possibility to enhance the transmission between the antennas within the high loss environment. Those results propose the feasibility of implementing a high-frequency radar system for breast cancer detection.

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On the Feasibility of Breast Cancer Imaging Systems at Millimeter-Waves Frequencies

Cited by 88 publications

References 38 publications

Preliminary Results of a New Auxiliary Mechatronic Near-Field Radar System to 3D Mammography for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Preliminary Results of a New Auxiliary Mechatronic Near-Field Radar System to 3D Mammography for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

Experimental Validation on Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms of Millimeter-Wave Imaging for Breast Cancer Detection

Ultra‐wideband on‐body elliptical monopole antenna

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