Opto-Acoustic Tomography for Early Detection of Breast Cancer.

摘要

The major efforts during the Year-2 project were made on testing LOIS in breast cancer patients scheduled for radical mastectomy (1-3 quarters) and on system modifications based on test results (4th quarter). The research aims of the Year-2 were accomplished yielding over 50 two-dimensional optoacoustic images of 10 breast cancer patients. LOIS performance in vivo was compared with its performance ex-vivo in mastectomy specimens. The results demonstrated that LOIS produces high-resolution images of cancerous tumors in vivo with significantly enhanced contrast relative to x-ray mammography or ultrasound. The hypothesis that the optoacoustic contrast results from tumor angiogenesis is being tested by comparing images with immuno-histology. Further contrast enhancement method using nanoparticles was invented. During the Year-2 LOIS electronics was enhanced by a multichannel data acquisition system yielding images in close-to-real time (1 image per 2 seconds). Recommendations made for LOIS modification included: (1) widening the area of optical irradiation in order to cover a larger area of the breast and visualize tumors in greater details; (2) development of digital filters in order to improve resolution; (3) development of optoacoustic transducer array that integrates fiberoptic illumination and piezoelectric detection in order to achieve greater level of convenience for both, the patient and the radiologist. These modifications are being implemented in order to perform LOIS testing in radiology suite during the Year-3.