Low Dose Molecular Breast Imaging

“乳腺癌筛查是在大约30年前在英国引入的，主要依赖于X射线乳房X光检查。这种技术在癌症肿瘤和周围乳腺组织的密度存在显著差异的情况下有效。大约三分之一的女性乳房组织密度较高，因此乳房X光检查无法清晰地对肿瘤进行成像，从而导致未确诊的癌症。乳房检查的年龄从50-70岁逐渐延长到47-73岁。由于年轻女性的乳房密度较高，目前提供的乳房X光检查更不令人满意。分子乳房成像是一种技术，利用放射性示踪剂识别肿瘤，然后由专业相机成像。与正常组织相比，示踪剂在恶性乳腺组织中的集中程度要大得多，因此恶性组织在图像上显示为明亮区域。目前，分子乳腺成像的缺点是需要比乳房X光检查更高的辐射剂量。该项目的第一阶段将利用探测器技术的新发展来降低所需剂量，使其与乳房X线摄影相当。这种低剂量分子乳腺成像（LDMBI）将在泰恩河畔纽卡斯尔医院的一项试点研究中使用，以证明这一概念。随着探测器的开发，我们将评估公众对这项技术的接受程度，以及临床路径的必要变化。国家筛查服务的改变需要大量的临床和经济证据，将制定一项临床试验计划来收集这些证据。该项目将提供一个功能性设备和一个临床试验方案，用于未来的临床疗效评估。"

"Breast screening was introduced in the UK almost 30 years ago, and relies principally on x-ray mammography. This technique is effective where there is a significant difference in the density of a cancer tumor and the surrounding breast tissue. Around a third of women have denser breast tissue, such that mammography is unable to clearly image tumors, resulting in undiagnosed cancers. The age for breast screening is gradually extending from 50-70 to 47-73\. As there is a higher prevalence of dense breasts in younger women, the current provision of mammography even less satisfactory.Molecular breast imaging is a technique whereby a radioactive tracer is used to identify a tumor that is then imaged by a specialist camera. The tracer is concentrated to a much greater extent in malignant breast tissue compared to normal tissue, therefore the malignant tissue shows up as a bright area on the image. Molecular breast imaging currently has the disadvantage of requiring a higher radiation dose than received with a mammogram. The first phase of this project will utilise new developments in detector technology to reduce the requried dose such that it is comparable with mammography. This Low-Dose Moleculuar Breast Imaging (LDMBI) will then be used in a pilot study at Newcastle-upon-Tyne hospital demonstrate the concept.Alongside the detector development we will assess the public acceptance of this technology, and the necessary changes in the clinical pathway. Changes to national screening services require substantial clinical and economic evidence, and a clinical trial programme will be developed to gather this evidence. The project will deliver a functional device and a clinical trial protocol for future assessment of the clincial efficacy."