Breast Tissue-Mimicking Phantom for Combined Ultrasound and Microwave Imaging
Date
2021-03-16
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Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and persists to be one of the top threats to women’s health. Early diagnosis and treatment are the keys to defeat breast cancer. There are plenty of methods and devices, such as X-ray, CT, and MRI, to detect tumours and malignant breast tissues. More recently, ultrasound imaging has become a standard cancer detection method, and microwave imaging has gained interest in diagnosing breast tumours for its moderate biological effects. Using a combination of these two modalities can provide high-resolution images with improved contrast that can make up for the lack of a single approach. A vital step to achieve this combination is the development of tissue-mimicking phantoms that can satisfy both microwave and ultrasound physical properties at the same time before clinical application. This thesis mainly focused on the breast tissue-mimicking phantom for combined ultrasound and microwave imaging. Four breast tissues (skin, fat, fibroglandular and tumour) were mainly mimicked by canola oil, coconut oil and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) powder with agar and glass beads. First of all, in order to determine the formulae used to mimic different tissues, the interactions between the ratio of ingredients and properties were established by preparing 36 recipes and then measuring both ultrasound and microwave properties. Secondly, after deciding on the formulae to meet the requirements, five box phantoms based on gross breast anatomy with different internal structures had been fabricated and were scanned by a microwave transmission system and an L7-4 ultrasound transducer to obtain microwave and ultrasound images separately. Finally, microwave permittivity maps in horizontal direction were obtained from microwave imaging scan, and 3D images were obtained after segmentation and reconstruction of ultrasound images. The interior design of the five box phantoms could be observed and distinguished by microwave and ultrasound imaging.
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Phantom, Ultrasound, Microwave, Breast cancer
Citation
Li, S. (2021). Breast Tissue-Mimicking Phantom for Combined Ultrasound and Microwave Imaging (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.