Tactile and Ultrasonic Imaging for Next Generation Breast Cancer Screening

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Clinical data on the diagnostic/screening potential of breast TI indicate that it is superior to the clinical breast exam and comparable or superior to mammography. Advantages of TI include inherently low cost, ease-of-use, portability, no ionising radiation, and minimal training requirements. A system developed by the sponsor PPS (www.pressureprofile.com), is currently being commercialised by Bexa (www.mybexa.com). Tactile imaging is well suited screening for potential lesions, but is limited in differentiating benign cysts and tumours. Ultrasonic imaging is too targeted to perform a global scan of the breast, but can differentiate between cysts and tumours, reducing the need for biopsy. This PhD will investigate the fusion of stress (tactile) and strain (ultrasonic) to optimise breast cancer screening. Project aims include:1) Understand the state of the art in breast imaging using tactile imaging and ultrasonic imaging. 2) Develop procedures and algorithms that use a combination of TI to find and ultrasound to diagnose lesions3) Develop a hybrid ultrasonic/tactile imagine sensor module and demonstrate the concept4) Investigate methods/algorithms of combining stress (TI) and strain (ultrasound) at a fundamental level to enhance diagnosis capability