Needle path planning for digital breast tomosynthesis biopsy using a heterogeneous model

This paper presents a novel needle path planning method for biopsy guided by digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) taking into account breast heterogeneity. First, a multi-resolution optimization approach, guaranteeing that a relevant path is computed, is proposed. Moreover, local breast mechanical parameters required for a heterogeneous finite element simulation, are extracted from the DBT data. The proposed approach computes a 3D local breast glandularity estimation used for Young´s modulus determination. This planning method, using a heterogeneous model, reduces the tool positioning error meanly by 75%. In addition, the results show that a breast heterogeneous model has the potential to improve planning accuracy.