Diagnostic model for local temporal thermal change at the skin of the breast during extended application of diagnostic ultrasound

Abstract

A biophysical model is derived to account for the temporal thermal change at the skin of the breast as a result of ultrasound stimulation at the suspect lesion for seven minutes, with responses recorded using an infrared camera. Twenty-two patients were studied. The observed temporal responses for malignant cases have a different pattern from those of the benign cases studied and a mathematical model is used to investigate the controlling parameters. A new method is used to estimate the coefficients of the resulting difference equation which allows more useful diagnostic parameters to be computed than the corresponding continuous bioheat equation. The model is used to fit the experimental data. The results suggest that this method might be a rapid and noninvasive aid for distinguishing between benign and malignant breast tumours.

breast cancer, ultrasound, skin temperature, temporal response, feedback control model, diagnostic parameters