Browsing by Author "Talaga, Kasha"

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    Combined Microwave, Ultrasound and Strain Imaging for Breast Tissue Characterization
    (2022-09-14) Talaga, Kasha; Curiel, Laura; Fear, Elise Carolyn; Bento, Mariana Pinheiro
    Today, breast cancer continues to be one of the most common cancers among women. Early detection of breast cancer can provide patients with the best chance of survival. Imaging methods are routinely used to scan for breast abnormalities, which may include X-Ray mammography, MRI, and ultrasound. The standard method is X-Ray mammography, however, using ultrasound in addition to mammography has become common practice. Another form of imaging, elastography, utilizes the same ultrasound equipment, and is useful to differentiate elastic stiffness between tumours and normal tissues. Microwave imaging is an emerging modality that is appealing because it is low-cost and highly safe for patients, as it does not emit harmful radiation. A promising improvement in the field of breast cancer imaging is to utilize the imaging capabilities of these 3 modalities, microwave, ultrasound and strain elastography in order to better locate and identify breast tumours. In this study, we propose the integration of ultrasound and elastography with an existing microwave-based breast imaging system developed at the University of Calgary. This thesis is focused on presenting a platform which includes a prototype for integration and a graphical interface for viewing the images from all modalities. In this work, ultrasound, strain and microwave imaging scans are applied to breast-tissue mimicking phantoms with different inclusion orientations. The images are investigated to compare image results in various scenarios. Secondly, to integrate the ultrasound and microwave devices, a prototype was developed to allow the ultrasound probe and microwave antennas to have contact with the phantom. The prototype is validated by acquiring both ultrasound and microwave images. Lastly, a graphical interface where images from each modality are viewed is introduced. Here, strain and microwave images are overlayed to provide further information on the inclusion.