Low Frequency Bio-Electrical Impedance Mammography and Dielectric Measurement
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 10-21-2016 12:00 AM Low Frequency Bio-Electrical Impedance Mammography and Dielectric Measurement Seyyed Hesabgar The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Samani The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Medical Biophysics A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Seyyed Hesabgar 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation Commons Recommended Citation Hesabgar, Seyyed, "Low Frequency Bio-Electrical Impedance Mammography and Dielectric Measurement" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4208. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4208 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Assessment of electrical impedance of biological tissues at low frequencies offers a great potential for a safe, simple, and low-cost medical breast imaging techniques such as mammography. As such, in this dissertation a mammography method which uses tissue electrical impedance to detect breast malignancies was developed. The dissertation also introduces a new technique for measuring the dielectric properties of biological tissues at low frequencies. The impedance mammography technique introduced in this study is founded on the assumption that dielectric values of breast malignancies are significantly higher than the dielectric values of normal breast tissues. While previous studies have shown that this assumption is valid at high frequencies (50MHz-20GHz), less research efforts have been dedicated to ascertain the validity of such assumption at low frequencies (<1MHz). It is noteworthy that impedance imaging and characterization of biological tissues is highly advantageous at low rather than high frequencies. This is due to the higher contrast of capacitance and phase angle image data projections at low frequencies. Moreover, dispersion (energy loss) in biological tissues decreases significantly at low frequencies, rendering impedance imaging safer. The proposed tissue dielectric measurement technique in this study is based on tissue impedance measurement and using impedance data in an inverse finite element framework. This method was tested on several bovine tissue specimens and compared with convectional dielectric measurement techniques via simulation. Reliable electrical impedance data of malignant breast tumors are rare in the literature. To take a step toward providing such data, the proposed measurement technique was employed to measure the dielectric properties of normal and malignant breast tissue in xenograft mice model at 100Hz-1MHz. At the end, the possibility of using low frequency impedance mammography for detection of breast malignancies was investigated via in silico and tissue mimicking phantom studies. Results of this investigation suggest that imaging the electrical impedance properties of biological tissues through the proposed electrical impedance mammography can be potentially employed for breast cancer detection in a reliable and safe manner. i Keywords: Electrical Property, Electrical Impedance, Dielectric Properties, Biological Tissue, Breast Tissue, Breast Imaging, Mammography, Data Projection, Image Reconstruction, Breast Cancer, Tumor, Conductivity, Permittivity, Resistance, Capacitance, Phase Angle, Frequency, Resolution, Contrast, Sensor, Simulation, Phantom, Specimen, Voltage, Excitation Signal, Tumor Detection. Co-Authorship Statement This thesis is written by Seyyed M. Hesabgar under supervision of Dr. Abbas Samani. Part of the material presented in this thesis have been submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journal papers as listed below. The research presented in each submitted article has been conducted by the principal author and guided/supported by or in collaboration with the underlined authors who are the research supervisors or members of supervisory committee. The material presented in Chapter 2: S. Hesabgar, R. Menon, A. Adler, A. Samani, “A Method for Tissue Characterization Based on Low Frequency Dielectric Measurement and Comparison with Conventional Techniques” has been submitted to Medical Engineering and Physics journal and is currently under review. The material presented in Chapter 3: S. Hesabgar, A. Sadeghi-Naini, Gregory Czarnota, A. Samani, “Dielectric Properties of the Normal and Malignant Breast Tissues in Xenograft Mice at Low Frequencies (100Hz-1MHz)” has been submitted to Measurement journal and is currently under review. The material presented in chapter 4: S. Hesabgar, A. Samani, “Toward Medical Electrical Impedance Mammography Using Low Frequency Excitation” is currently pending submission to the peer-reviewed journal papers due to the US Patent W-15-036 filed in August, 2015 by the authors. ii Acknowledgements I would like to seize this opportunity to thank the people without whom, this achievement would not be possible. My first and foremost gratitude indeed belongs to God, as I believe God is the real source of knowledge in the universe and everything returns to him eventually. My Second gratitude belongs to my research supervisor, Dr. Abbas Samani, who guided me through PhD studies. I would like to thank my advisory committee, Dr. David Holdsworth and Dr. Ravi Menon for their valuable feedback and recommendations. I also would like to appreciate the University of Western Ontario for funding my research project. Finally, my deepest and sincerest gratitude belongs to my parents who helped and supported me throughout these years by their prayers and kindness. iii Table of Contents Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ i Co-Authorship Statement................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ ix List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... xi List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................................ xii Chapter 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background and Motivation ............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Dielectric Properties of Biological Tissues ...................................................................... 2 1.2.1. Definition of Dielectric Properties ............................................................................ 2 1.2.2. Frequency Dependence of Tissue’s Dielectric Properties ........................................ 2 1.2.3. Dielectric Properties of Normal and Malignant Tissues ........................................... 4 1.2.4. Dielectric Measurement Techniques and Tissue Characterization ........................... 5 1.2.4.1. VNA-based Approach ............................................................................................... 5 1.2.4.2. Inverse Finite Element Approach ............................................................................. 6 1.3. Relationship between Dielectric Properties, Resistance, and Capacitance ...................... 7 1.3.1. Relationship between Electrical Resistance and Conductance ................................. 7 1.3.2. Relationship between Electrical Capacitance and Permittivity ................................ 7 1.4. Lumped Electrical Model of Biological Tissues .............................................................. 8 1.5. Electrical Impedance of Biological Tissues ..................................................................... 9 iv 1.5.1. Definition of Bio-Electrical Impedance .................................................................... 9 1.5.2. Relationship between Electrical Impedance, Resistance, Capacitance and Phase Angle of Biological Tissues at Low Frequencies .................................................................... 9 1.5.3. Phase Angle and its Bio-medical Implication and Application .............................. 10 1.6. Literature Review Summary .......................................................................................... 11 1.6.1. Electrical Impedance Mammography (EIM) .......................................................... 11 1.6.2. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) of Breast...............................................