Posted by: Maria/MDHealthForum.com Team

Early detection is a key in the fight against breast cancer. According to experts, it’s among the reasons why breast cancer death rates have been declining since the 90’s. The current available diagnostic imaging procedures to detect breast cancer are mammography, ultrasound and MRI. Mammography is considered as the most accurate imaging technique to reduce the risk of breast cancer progression, this procedure detects presence of masses and microcalcifications in the breast by making use of ionizing radiation to create images. The use of mammography as a diagnostic tool started in 1960, since then, many researches have been directed towards developing several technologies to detect breast tumors and to upgrade conventional imaging. The most recent breast screening technology has been developed in the University of Bristol: the world’s first radar breast imaging system. This device is envisioned to revolutionize the way women are screened for breast cancer.

Professor Alan Preece and Dr Ian Craddock’s worked to develop a breast-imaging device which would be notches higher than conventional mammograms. They wanted the device to produce images by using radio waves which would mean that there will be no risk of radiation. The search and development of a prototype began 5 years ago. The team’s innovative technology which was originally developed for detecting land mines has turned out to a radical machine for breast screening. But what do mine detection and breast screening have in common? They both involve the detection of an object bearing electrical properties that are different from the surrounding medium. The new imaging technique works via transmissions of very low energy radio waves and detecting reflected signals. The signals will then be used to create a 3D image of a breast. Dr Ian Craddock mentioned that the technique, for most part, is the same as any radar system such as air-traffic control radars.

The new screening system offers a number of advantages over mammogram and MRI. The screening procedure is faster- only 6 minutes for each breast, in MRI it normally takes 30-45 minutes. The 3D images that the radar device produce is as detailed as MRI images. Women find mammography uncomfortable because the breast has to be squeezed quite hard, but with the new device, the procedure will not involve application of pressure on the breast because the transmitters are capable of viewing the breast from many different angles. The developers of this radar imaging device mentioned that its radiation is the same as speaking on a mobile phone at arms length. Sixty women have been screened using the start-of-the art machine, some of them had mammograms before and they attested that the screening procedure with was a more comfortable experience.

At present, the radar breast imaging system is being trialled in the University of Bristol. Further trials are on the way, this will include studying images from the new machine as well as those produced by conventional mammogram. The developers would like to find out whether the radar’s 3d images detect the same irregularities in the breast as the mammogram would and whether it is capable of identifying anything else in the image. They also intend to focus the trials on younger women. This new technology could improve the chances of detecting tumors at an early stage; interventions could also be given earlier, thus hindering the progression of the disease.

Sources:
Egan RL. Experience with mammography in a tumor institution: evaluation of 1,000 studies. Radiology 1960;75:894–900

Ries LAG, Melbert D, Krapcho M, et al., eds, SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2004, National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, based on November 2006 SEER data submission.

University of Bristol Press release issued 12 November 2008