The diagnostic value of impedance imaging system in patients with breast mass

摘要

Background : High incidence of breast cancer in young ages in Iran and the resulting complications for families require more attention to be directed to this problem. Evaluation of electrical properties of living body organs, owing to unique and increasing clinical applications, has attracted many researchers around the world. Methods: The impedance imaging system, manufactured by Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, is an imaging technique with a capacity of determining the characteristics of live tissue in vivo. This technique is based on this principle that the carrying capacity of breast tissue is influenced by the amount of fat, glandular tissue and presence of tumor in breast, as the breast tumor has a different conductivity to the surrounding tissue. The impedance imaging system, designed to determine its efficiency for diagnosis of breast tumor, was evaluated in 17 patients whose lesions were diagnosed by sonography. Results : The results of impedance imaging system showed that from 49 malignant tumors, 38 tumors were diagnosed correctly and 11 cases were diagnosed as tumors. Also, from 49 healthy tissues, 44 cases were diagnosed correctly and 5 cases were diagnosed erroneously, with accuracy of 83.67. Conclusion : Given its high performance, this system can be used along with sonography as a clinical tool for medical diagnoses.