2023-07-28 マサチューセッツ工科大学(MIT)
◆1人の被験者を対象に試験を行った結果、0.3センチメートルの大きさの乳房嚢胞を検出することができ、既存の超音波検査と同等の解像度を持っていることが確認されました。
◆このウェアラブルパッチは再利用可能で、早期乳がんリスクのある人々や検診の機会が限られている人々にとって有用です。今後は、さらなる研究で人工知能を活用して画像を分析し、乳がんの早期診断に貢献することを目指しています。
<関連情報>
- https://news.mit.edu/2023/wearable-ultrasound-scanner-breast-cancer-0728
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adh5325
深部組織のスキャンと画像化のための装着型超音波乳房パッチ Conformable ultrasound breast patch for deep tissue scanning and imaging
Wenya Du,Lin Zhang,Emma Suh,Dabin Lin,Colin Marcus,Lara Ozkan,Avani Ahuja,Sara Fernandez,Ikra Iftekhar Shuvo,David Sadat,Weiguo Liu,Fei Li ,Anantha P. Chandrakasan,Tolga Ozmen,and Canan Dagdeviren
Science Advances Published:28 Jul 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adh5325
Abstract
Ultrasound is widely used for tissue imaging such as breast cancer diagnosis; however, fundamental challenges limit its integration with wearable technologies, namely, imaging over large-area curvilinear organs. We introduced a wearable, conformable ultrasound breast patch (cUSBr-Patch) that enables standardized and reproducible image acquisition over the entire breast with less reliance on operator training and applied transducer compression. A nature-inspired honeycomb-shaped patch combined with a phased array is guided by an easy-to-operate tracker that provides for large-area, deep scanning, and multiangle breast imaging capability. The in vitro studies and clinical trials reveal that the array using a piezoelectric crystal [Yb/Bi-Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3] (Yb/Bi-PIN-PMN-PT) exhibits a sufficient contrast resolution (~3 dB) and axial/lateral resolutions of 0.25/1.0 mm at 30 mm depth, allowing the observation of small cysts (~0.3 cm) in the breast. This research develops a first-of-its-kind ultrasound technology for breast tissue scanning and imaging that offers a noninvasive method for tracking real-time dynamic changes of soft tissue.
