Development of non-invasive diagnostic medical technologies

用于疾病诊断的非侵入性技术在医学领域中发挥着越来越重要的作用。 在过去的几年中，基于乳腺组织的电磁特性的乳腺癌的早期检测已经变得越来越感兴趣。正常组织和癌症的性质预期是不同的;恶性和良性组织性质的差异可用于区分癌症和非癌性病变。 卡尔加里大学正在开发一种利用电磁特性检测乳腺癌的方法，即组织传感自适应雷达（TSAR）。 这种微波技术基于超宽带（UWB）雷达系统。 基本上，微波的短脉冲被传输到乳房中并收集反射。 由于肿瘤和健康组织的电磁特性的差异，预期来自肿瘤的反射增加。在减少不需要的信号之后，反射被聚焦，以便在三维中定位肿瘤。 TSAR方法是患者友好的，因为它不涉及乳房压缩或电离辐射。迄今为止，我们的工作表明，TSAR是一种有前途的技术。 模拟和实验数据的研究已经进行。 已经开发了一个用于实验工作的实验室原型系统，包括一个简单的乳房模型或模型，一个扫描模型的系统和一个发送和接收脉冲的天线。 结果表明，成功的检测和定位的肿瘤模型。 TSAR研究的下一步是开发临床原型，该研究项目旨在实现适用于扫描志愿者的TSAR系统。 该原型包括人体工程学患者界面和改进的TSAR成像算法的开发。 此外，我们建议探索TSAR技术在其他疾病诊断和非侵入式传感等领域的应用。

Non-invasive technologies for the diagnosis of disease are playing an increasingly important role in the medical field.  In the past several years, early detection of breast cancer based on the electromagnetic properties of breast tissues has become of increasing interest. The properties of normal tissues and cancers are expected to differ; differences in the properties of malignant and benign tissues may be used to differentiate cancers from non-cancerous lesions.  One approach to breast cancer detection using electromagnetic properties, Tissue Sensing Adaptive Radar (TSAR), is under development at the University of Calgary.  This microwave technology is based on an ultra-wideband (UWB) radar system.  Essentially, short pulses of microwaves are transmitted into the breast and reflections are collected.  Increased reflections are expected from tumours, due to the differences in electromagnetic properties of tumours and healthy tissues. After reduction of unwanted signals, the reflections are focused in order to locate tumours in three dimensions.  The TSAR approach is patient-friendly, as it does not involve breast compression or ionizing radiation.To date, our work indicates that TSAR is a promising technology.  Studies with both simulated and experimental data have been performed.  A laboratory prototype system has been developed for experimental work, consisting of a simple breast model or phantom, a system for scanning the model and an antenna to send and receive pulses.  Results demonstrate successful detection and localization of tumour models.  The next step in TSAR research is development of a clinical prototype, and this research project aims to implement a TSAR system suitable for scanning volunteers.  This prototype includes development of an ergonomic patient interface and improved TSAR imaging algorithms.  In addition, we propose to explore the application of the TSAR technology to areas such as diagnosis of other diseases and non-invasive sensing.