Breast cancer detection with microwave imaging

  • Date: 03/25/2008
Speaker(s):

Elise Fear (University of Calgary)

Location: 

Calgary Place Tower (Shell)

Topic: 

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women. Regular breast examination and imaging are suggested to promote early detection of this disease. However, X-ray mammography that is typically used for breast imaging, has acknowledged limitations, such as difficulty in imaging women with dense breasts. These limitations have generated interest in developing new methods for breast imaging and diagnosis.
Alternative methods are often based on different physical properties of the tissues compared to x-ray mammography. For example, several techniques have been proposed to image the electrical properties of tissues. Microwave imaging is one of these methods, and we are developing a microwave imaging system for breast imaging at the University of Calgary.
This presentation will review several recent studies reporting the properties of various healthy and malignant breast tissues at microwave frequencies. The system that we are developing, Tissue Sensing Adaptive Radar (TSAR), uses radar techniques to create breast images at microwave frequencies. This involves illuminating the breast with a short pulse of microwaves, then recording reflections at specialized sensors. The reflections are processed in order to create images that indicate the presence and location of scattering objects (e.g. lesions). This presentation will describe recent work with specialized sensors, prototype systems and imaging algorithms.

Other Information: 

PIMS is presenting a series of lectures at the Calgary Place Tower 1 in downtown Calgary. These lectures, given by experts from the PIMS Universities, will focus on mathematical techniques and applications relevant to the oil and gas industry and will demonstrate the utility and beauty of applied mathematics. The talks are aimed at a general audience. Attendance may qualify for APEGGA Professional Development Hours.

Sponsor: 

pimsshellaiandsucal