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Assessment of Breast Composition With a Transmission-Based Microwave Imaging System.
IEEE Transactions on Bio-Medical Engineering
|June 30, 2025
Summary
Microwave imaging shows promise for assessing breast composition, correlating well with mammogram density metrics. This safe, portable technology could aid in early breast cancer risk detection.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Breast density is a significant breast cancer risk factor, often unknown pre-mammogram.
- Microwave imaging is being explored for cancer detection and monitoring.
- Assessing breast composition is crucial for risk stratification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate microwave imaging's potential for estimating breast composition.
- To correlate microwave imaging metrics with mammogram-derived breast density.
- To explore microwave imaging as a tool for non-invasive breast assessment.
Main Methods:
- Transmission-based microwave imaging applied to 110 participants with prior mammograms.
- Developed techniques: average permittivity, image thresholding, segmentation.
- Compared microwave-derived composition measures with mammogram density categories.
Main Results:
- Strong correlation found between average permittivity from microwave images and mammogram metrics.
- Significant differences in average permittivity across breast density categories (ANOVA).
- Image thresholding and segmentation showed potential for differentiating breast composition.
Conclusions:
- Microwave imaging is a safe, portable, and affordable tool for non-invasive breast composition assessment.
- The study utilized the largest cohort to date comparing microwave breast images with clinical mammogram data.
- Microwave imaging offers a novel method for breast composition assessment and early cancer risk detection.
