A Primary Research of the Relationship Between Breast Tissues Impedance Spectroscopy and Electrical Impedance Scanning

Abstract

This paper aims to study the electric impedance properties of healthy and malignant breast tissue and their relationship with the image of electrical impedance scanning (EIS). The impedance character of 40 malignant tumors, 34 benign tumors and some normal breast tissues from 69 patients undergoing breast surgery who had been examined by EIS in vivo measurement and mammography screening were analyzed, with a series of frequencies set between 100 Hz-100 kHz in the ex vivo spectroscopy measurement. Result Of the 39 patients with 40 malignant tumors, 24 showed bright spots, 11 showed dark area in EIS and 5 showed no specific image. Of all the 30 patients with 34 benign tumors were almost no specific abnormality shown in EIS results. Primary ex vivo spectroscopy experiments show that the resistivity of various breast tissue take the following pattern: adipose tissue>cancerous tissue>mammary gland and benign tumor tissue. Conclusion There are significant difference in the electrical impedance properties between cancerous tissue and healthy tissue. The impedivity of benign tumor is lower, and is at the same level with that of the mammary glandular tissue. The distinct growth pattern of breast lesions determined the different electrical impedance characteristic in EIS results.