Dual-frequency electrical impedance mammography for the diagnosis of non-malignant breast disease

Abstract

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) enables one to determine and visualize non-invasively the spatial distribution of the electrical properties of the tissues inside the body, thus providing valuable diagnostic information. The electrical impedance mammography (EIM) system is a specialized EIT system for diagnostics and imaging of the breast. While breast cancer is the main target for any investigation conducted in this area, the diagnosis of non-cancerous diseases is also very important because it opens the way to improve the quality of life for many women and it may also reduce the incidence of breast cancer through effective treatment of mastopathy. This paper presents the main results of a comprehensive examination of 166 women using four methods: multifrequency electrical impedance mammography, ultrasonic investigation, x-ray mammography and puncture biopsy. The objective of the investigation is to estimate the usefulness of multifrequency electrical impedance mammography for diagnosing dyshormonal mammary gland diseases. The results demonstrate the advantages of the multifrequency EIM method. In particular, dual-frequency electrical impedance mammography in contrast with the single-frequency variant enables one not only to diagnose mastopathy, but also allows accurate detection of its cystless form based on observation of the absence of any difference between average conductivity in both phases of the menstrual cycle. Because the cystless form of mastopathy is associated with a higher risk of cancer development, this method allows identification of a higher risk group of patients for more frequent investigations.