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Updated: Feb 26, 2026
The Application of 1% Methylene Blue Dye As a Single Technique in Breast Cancer Sentinel Node Biopsy
Published on: June 1, 2019
An innovative method for precise lymph node detection before surgical treatment in breast cancer
Milovan Matovic1, Dalibor Nikolic, Nenad Filipovic
1University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Bioengineering Research and Development Center, Kragujevac, Serbia. mmatovic1955@gmail.com.
Objective:
To describe a new method of 3D interactive modeling which integrates images obtained by separate SPET and multi slice computed tomography (MSCT) modalities using an original software in order to better localize SNL in BC patients.
Subjects And Methods:
We used technetium-99m-colloid rhenium sulphate for identifying SNL in seven patients with BC. Markers were made of lead pearls wrapped with cotton wool soaked in 99mTc-pertechnetate and placed on the skin of the patients forming of a triangle. Using an original software, two separate 3D models were made after SPET and MSCT imaging and then merged into a hybrid 3D model which enabled precise visualization and localization of the SNL.
Results:
In all cases the position of the SNL established by our method was successfully verified using a gamma probe. Duration of SNL identification and extirpation were significantly reduced in less than 10 minutes per patient. The reproducibility of this method was confirmed by precise identification and biopsy of the SNL.
Conclusion:
We found this integrated SPET/MSCT 3D model to be much faster and easier to use as compared with the "classic" method, which was based on a radioactivity detection probe. In addition, our method was reproducible, accurate and of low cost. In other words, the method described in this paper could be very useful for health facilities with modest budget, because it obviates the need for buying expensive integrated SPET/MSCT hybrid imaging systems while detecting SNLs more accurately and in shorter time.
