Abstract
To determine the diagnostic efficiency of 3D Eletrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) compared to Mammography (MG) and Ultrasonography (USG) in imaging the breast. A group of 88 patients presenting with various breast complaints was examined using combined Mammography and Ultrasonography (MG & USG) or either of these modalities alone. The same patients were then examined using the 3D EIT imaging system "MEIK". The findings were then compared. The sensitivity of these modalities for this group of patients were later determined and statistically analysed. Of the total of 88 patients, 59 findings were "suspicious" by any of the 3 modalities alone or by their combination. EIT had a sensitivity of 77.8 % compared to MG with a sensitivity of 83.3 % and USG with a sensitivity of 94.4 % regarding cases of fibrocystic mastitis. For cases involving cysts, EIT had 100 % sensitivity which was the same as that for USG compared to MG with a sensitivity of only 81 %. Among cases of fibroadenoma, EIT had a sensitivity of just 68.8 % compared to MG with a sensitivity of 87.5 % and USG with a sensitivity of 75 %. Finally among cases of carcinoma, EIT had a sensitivity of 75 % compared to the sensitivity of 100 % of MG and USG in our group of patients. The study revealed that there was no overall significant difference in sensitivity between MG-USG (p = 0.219) and MG-EIT (p = 0.779) and USG-EIT (p = 0.169). However, in regard to identifying cysts there was significant difference in the sensitivity of MG compared to USG & EIT suggesting that EIT has a role in these cases. Electrical impedance could be used as an adjunct to Mammography and Ultrasonography for breast cancer detection. However, the differentiation of malignant from benign lesions based on impedance measurements needs further investigation. Multifrequency electrical impedance imaging appears the most promising for detecting breast malignancies but methodological improvements need to be made to realise its potential.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in females worldwide
The separation of malignant tumours from benign lesions based on impedance measurements needs further investigation[3, 4, 7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15] as found this study that the differentiaton of malignant and benign lesions was poor and showed no particular characteristic impedance
Progress in the development of Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) breast imaging system will definitely help to promote other systems and applications based on the EIT and similar visualization methods
Summary
Breast cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in females worldwide. The primary risk factors that have been identified are sex, age, childbearing, hormones, a high-fat diet, alcohol intake, obesity, and environmental factors such as tobacco use and radiation. Mammography (MG) screening is currently considered the best method available for mass screening in the early detection of breast cancer[1]. The electrical impedance scanning device it uses does not emit any radiation and consists of a hand-held scanning probe and a computer screen that displays two-dimensional images of the breast. The current travels through the breast, where it is measured by the scanning probe placed over the breast. Breast tissue that is cancerous has a much lower electrical impedance (conducts electricity much better) than normal breast tissue. Electrical impedance scanning devices are being tried along with conventional mammography to detect breast cancer. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficiency of EIT in comparison to Mammography and Ultrasonography in detecting various lesions of the breast
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