Breast tissue phantoms to assist compression study for cancer detection using microwave radiometry

Microwave radiometry is a passive imaging modality proposed for breast cancer detection without the need for ionizing radiation. Detection of breast tumor using radiometry is challenging as the intensity of thermal radiation received by the antenna is influenced by tumor stage, location, physiological conditions and the imaging setup. The controllable parameters for setting up a good imaging modality for early detection of breast cancer are ambient temperature (T_a), convection cooling of tissue surface (h), and tissue compression (c). Amongst these parameters tissue compression plays an important role since reducing the breast thickness increases visibility. In this work, fabrication of hydrogel breast tissue phantoms with varying concentrations of polyvinyl alcohol (PVAL) is carried out to mimic breast fat and glandular tissue properties for compression study. The phantoms were subjected to compression to investigate the mechanical properties for varying PVAL concentrations. A 3D numerical model was developed for phantom tissue compression simulations. Simulated tissue compression results were compared with phantom measurements for model validation.