Abstract
MREIT is a new imaging modality that can be used to reconstruct high-resolution conductivity images of the human body. Since conductivity values of cancerous tissues in the breast are significantly higher than those of surrounding normal tissues, breast imaging using MREIT may provide a new noninvasive way of detecting early stage of cancer. In this paper, we present results of experimental and numerical simulation studies of breast MREIT. We built a realistic three-dimensional model of the human breast connected to a simplified model of the chest including the heart and evaluated the ability of MREIT to detect cancerous anomalies in a background material with similar electrical properties to breast tissue. We performed numerical simulations of various scenarios in breast MREIT including assessment of the effects of fat inclusions and effects related to noise levels, such as changing the amplitude of injected currents, effect of added noise and number of averages. Phantom results showed straightforward detection of cancerous anomalies in a background was possible with low currents and few averages. The simulation results showed it should be possible to detect a cancerous anomaly in the breast, while restricting the maximal current density in the heart below published levels for nerve excitation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 40-49 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetic Resonance |
Volume | 230 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Breast cancer
- Conductivity image
- MREIT
- Magnetic flux density
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Biochemistry
- Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics