THERMOACOUSTIC CT OF THE BREAST

描述(改编自申请者摘要)：在之前的资助期间 期间，有报道称已经开发出一种新的医学成像范式，称为 热声CT(TCT)。在目前的实施中，TCT利用Brief 434 MHz的无线电波脉冲刺激声发射 组织。这些声波发射是由一系列压电体探测到的 晶体，并在250,000个单独的RF之后被临时记录 脉搏。根据记录的声波发射，无线电波的吸收模式 在软组织体积内进行三维重建。这个 申请者报告说，在一种 切除了猪肾，我们已经成功地在活体内成像了乳腺癌。 拟议的研究计划的目标是更好地了解 软组织的潜在射频吸收特性，并改善电流 用于人体乳房成像的TCT仪器。为达到这些目的，以下是 在拟议的三年筹资期间，将实现具体目标：1. 比心、容量热膨胀和复合体的性质 介电常数与TCT图像对比度：2.结合水分数与TCT图像的关系 对比；3.对比不同乳腺肿瘤的生理特性 具有TCT图像对比度的细胞系；4.开发模拟工具来预测和 验证TCT在乳房的成像性能；5.设计、构造和测试 改进的TCT乳房扫描仪；以及6.对 一小群病人

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Applicant's Abstract): During the previous funding period, reported having developed a new medical imaging paradigm called thermoacoustic CT (TCT). In its current implementation, TCT utilizes brief pulses of radio waves at 434 MHz to stimulate acoustic emissions in soft tissue. These sonic emissions are detected by an array of piezo-electric crystals and are recorded temporally following each of 250,000 individual RF pulses. From the recorded sonic emissions, patterns of radio-wave absorption within the soft tissue volume are reconstructed in three dimensions. The applicants reported having demonstrated good soft tissue differentiation in an excised porcine kidney, and we have successfully imaged breast cancer in vivo. The goal of the proposed research program is to better understand the underlying RF-absorption properties of soft tissue, and to improve the current TCT instrumentation for imaging the human breast. To these ends, the following specific aims will be pursued during the proposed three-year funding period: 1. Relate the properties of specific heart, volume thermal expansion and complex permittivity to TCT image contrast: 2. Relate bound water fraction to TCT image contrast; 3. Correlate the physiologic properties of different breast tumor cell lines with TCT image contrast; 4. Develop simulation tools to predict and validate TCT imaging performance in the breast; 5. Design, construct and test an improved TCT breast scanner; and 6. Perform retrospective TCT imaging on small groups of patients