Development and Testing of a Single Frequency Terahertz Imaging System for Breast Cancer Detection

Author

St. Peter, Benjamin ; Yngvesson, S. ; Siqueira, Paul ; Kelly, Patrick ; Khan, Ajmal ; Glick, Stephen ; Karellas, Andrew

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA

Volume

3

Issue

4

fYear

2013

fDate

Jul-13

Firstpage

374

Lastpage

386

Abstract

The ability to discern malignant from benign tissue in excised human breast specimens in Breast Conservation Surgery (BCS) was evaluated using single frequency terahertz radiation. Terahertz (THz) images of the specimens in reflection mode were obtained by employing a gas laser source and mechanical scanning. The images were correlated with optical histological micrographs of the same specimens, and a mean discrimination of 73% was found for five out of six samples using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. The system design and characterization is discussed in detail. The initial results are encouraging but further development of the technology and clinical evaluation is needed to evaluate its feasibility in the clinical environment.

Keywords

biological organs; cancer; gas lasers; laser applications in medicine; sensitivity analysis; surgery; terahertz wave imaging; tumours; BCS; ROC analysis; benign tissue; breast cancer detection; breast conservation surgery; clinical evaluation; excised human breast specimens; gas laser source; malignant tissue; mechanical scanning; optical histological micrographs; receiver operating characteristic analysis; single frequency terahertz imaging system; single frequency terahertz radiation; Acoustic beams; Detectors; Focusing; Laser beams; Refractive index; Surgery; Breast cancer; THz; medical imaging; reflectivity; refractive index; single frequency THz imaging (SFTI);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Terahertz Science and Technology, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-342X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TTHZ.2013.2241429

Filename

6468149