Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Clinical Imaging of Microwave Mammography
Published on: November 14, 2025
Initial study on in vivo conductivity mapping of breast cancer using MRI
Jaewook Shin1, Min Jung Kim2, Joonsung Lee3
1Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Purpose:
To develop and apply a method to measure in vivo electrical conductivity values using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in subjects with breast cancer.
Materials And Methods:
A recently developed technique named MREPT (MR electrical properties tomography) together with a novel coil combination process was used to quantify the conductivity values. The overall technique was validated using a phantom study. In addition, 90 subjects were imaged (50 subjects with previously biopsy-confirmed breast tumor and 40 normal subjects), which was approved by our institutional review board (IRB). A routine clinical protocol, specifically a T2 -weighted FSE (fast spin echo) imaging data, was used for reconstruction of conductivity.
Results:
By employing the coil combination, the relative error in the conductivity map was reduced from ~70% to 10%. The average conductivity values in breast cancers regions (0.89 ± 0.33S/m) was higher compared to parenchymal tissue (0.43 S/m, P < 0.0001) and fat (0.07 S/m, P < 0.00005) regions. Malignant cases (0.89 S/m, n = 30) showed increased conductivity compared to benign cases (0.56 S/m, n = 5) (P < 0.05). In addition, invasive cancers (0.96 S/m) showed higher mean conductivity compared to in situ cancers (0.57 S/m) (P < 0.0005).
Conclusion:
This study shows that conductivity mapping of breast cancers is feasible using a noninvasive in vivo MREPT technique combined with a coil combination process. The method may provide a tool in the MR diagnosis of breast cancer.
