ELASTOGRAPHIC TISSUE CHARACTERISATION BY SEPARATE MODAL ANALYSIS WITH A DIGITAL IMAGE ELASTO TOMOGRAPHY (DIET) BREAST CANCER SCREENING SYSTEM

摘要

Breast cancer is a significant worldwide health problem and early diagnosis can greatly increase survival rates. Digital Image Elasto Tomography (DIET) is a novel non-invasive elastographic breast cancer screening technology, relying on surface motion tracking of a vibrating breast. A new approach in software based diagnosis based on modal analysis is presented, focussing on the second natural frequency of the breast. Separate modal analysis is used to estimate the modal parameters using imaging data from silicone phantoms. The proposed method is verified on a dataset consisting of four silicone phantoms with tumour sizes of 0, 5, 10 and 20 mm in diameter. The second natural frequency proves to be a reliable metric with the potential to clearly distinguish cancerous and healthy tissue as well as providing an approximate angular location for the tumour with high confidence (p < 0.01). The proposed method shows promise for real-time, non-invasive breast cancer screening.