Coaxial Probes May Detect Breast Cancer

Based on certain properties of breast tissue, researchers are developing new technology for making coaxial probes that may be able to detect and diagnose breast cancer.

More than 180,000 new US cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and while treatments have lowered the risk of death and improved the quality of life, diagnosis has not changed much for years. While new molecular and microarray diagnostic systems are being developed, most doctors still rely on traditional physical exams and mammograms.

Now, a research project conducted by researchers at the Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA) are developing the technology for making probes that may lead to more-accurate methods of detection and diagnosing of breast tumors.

The electric and magnetic properties that comprise human breast tissue are affected by conditions that include age, body fat, and a woman's cycle. Considering this complex base of information, the researchers determined the characteristics for coaxial probes that can be used to measure these properties accurately. The probes consist of flangeless, open-ended coaxial lines that are operational over a frequency range from 1-25 gigahertz. The development of this technology is an important first step, the researchers said, toward the future use of probes to discern between the properties of healthy tissue and malignancies.





Related Links:
National Institute of Standards and Technology
U. of Wisconsin