Breast Cancer Screening Using Inverse Modeling of Surface Temperatures and Steady-State Thermal Imaging

Department

Oncology and Hematology

Additional Department

Radiology

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Cancers

Abstract

Cancer is characterized by increased metabolic activity and vascularity, leading to temperature changes in cancerous tissues compared to normal cells. This study focused on patients with abnormal mammogram findings or a clinical suspicion of breast cancer, exclusively those confirmed by biopsy. Utilizing an ultra-high sensitivity thermal camera and prone patient positioning, we measured surface temperatures integrated with an inverse modeling technique based on heat transfer principles to predict malignant breast lesions. Involving 25 breast tumors, our technique accurately predicted all tumors, with maximum errors below 5 mm in size and less than 1 cm in tumor location. Predictive efficacy was unaffected by tumor size, location, or breast density, with no aberrant predictions in the contralateral normal breast. Infrared temperature profiles and inverse modeling using both techniques successfully predicted breast cancer, highlighting its potential in breast cancer screening.

First Page

2264

DOI

10.3390/cancers16122264

Volume

16

Issue

12

Publication Date

6-19-2024

PubMed ID

38927969

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