Regional Admittivity Spectra With Tomosynthesis Images for Breast Cancer Detection: Preliminary Patient Study

It has been known for some time that many tumors have a significantly different conductivity and permittivity from surrounding normal tissue. This high "contrast" in tissue electrical properties, occurring between a few kilohertz and several megahertz, may permit differentiating malignant from benign tissues. Here we show the ability of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to roughly localize and clearly distinguish cancers from normal tissues and benign lesions. Localization of these lesions is confirmed by simultaneous, in register digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) mammography or 3-D mammograms.