Development of 3D MRI-Based Anatomically Realistic Models of Breast Tissues and Tumours for Microwave Imaging Diagnosis

Abstract

Breast cancer diagnosis using radar-based medical MicroWave Imaging (MWI) has been studied in recent years. Realistic numerical and physical models of the breast are needed for simulation and experimental testing of MWI prototypes. We aim to provide the scientific community with an online repository of multiple accurate realistic breast tissue models derived from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), including benign and malignant tumours. Such models are suitable for 3D printing, leveraging experimental MWI testing. We propose a pre-processing pipeline, which includes image registration, bias field correction, data normalisation, background subtraction, and median filtering. We segmented the fat tissue with the region growing algorithm in fat-weighted Dixon images. Skin, fibroglandular tissue, and the chest wall boundary were segmented from water-weighted Dixon images. Then, we applied a 3D region growing and Hoshen-Kopelman algorithms for tumour segmentation. The developed semi-automatic segmentation procedure is suitable to segment tissues with a varying level of heterogeneity regarding voxel intensity. Two accurate breast models with benign and malignant tumours, with dielectric properties at 3, 6, and 9 GHz frequencies have been made available to the research community. These are suitable for microwave diagnosis, i.e., imaging and classification, and can be easily adapted to other imaging modalities.

Repository of MRI-derived models of the breast with single and multiple benign and malignant tumors for microwave imaging research

“…Region growing [53] and Hoshen-Kopelman [54] algorithms were applied to pre-processed subtraction images from the DCE-fl3D sequence for tumor segmentation. Details regarding breast model processing are described in [55].…”

“…This repository includes the model files, allowing an easy reconfiguration of breast tissue models, if required; and an executable file enabling the generation of models that incorporate the dielectric properties of tissues for a chosen frequency value within the range of 3-10 GHz (with a step of 0.01 GHz), which fits investigators' needs and all developmental stages of any MWI prototype system. The developed repository can be accessed in [46].…”

Microwave Imaging Approach for Breast Cancer Detection Using a Tapered Slot Antenna Loaded with Parasitic Components

“…Due to the dielectric characteristics of malignant and healthy breast tissue at microwave frequencies, MWI devices have been researched in recent years for early-stage breast cancer diagnostics [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Cancerous tissue differs from healthy tissue because the permeability of the cancer cell membrane changes, allowing more water to pass into the cell [ 9 ]. As a result, malignant cells have more water and dissolved ions inside them with respect to healthy cells of exactly the same type of tissue.…”

Dielectric Characterization of Healthy Human Teeth from 0.5 to 18 GHz with an Open-Ended Coaxial Probe

“…Microwave imaging has been used in medical applications, including the imaging of breast cancer [ 19 ], axillary lymph nodes [ 20 , 21 , 22 ], brain strokes [ 23 , 24 ] and bones [ 25 ]. These medical applications have justified the study of dielectric properties of many biological tissues, including liver [ 26 ], breast [ 27 , 28 ] among many others [ 29 , 30 ], and have triggered classification based studies [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Experimental work carried out in the field of dentistry has shown that frequencies in the microwave/millimetre-wave range are able to discriminate between healthy teeth and teeth with visible caries [ 37 , 38 ], which motivates further investigation of microwave diagnostics applicability in detecting healthy teeth and teeth affected by caries.…”