An Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy System for Breast Cancer Detection

This paper describes Rensselaer's ACT 4 electrical impedance tomography system which has been developed for breast cancer detection. ACT 4 acquires electrical impedance data at a set of discrete frequencies in the range from 3.33 kHz to 1 MHz and can support up to 72 electrodes. The instrument applies either voltages or currents to all the electrodes simultaneously and measures the resulting currents and/or voltages. Radiolucent electrode arrays are applied to the compression plates of an x-ray mammography system for collecting impedance data in register with x-ray images. The analog front-end electronics are supported with a distributed digital system, including a computer, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). A Microsoft Visual C/C++ -based user interface controls the system operation. The overall system architecture is presented as well as performance results.

[1]  Tzu-Jen Kao,et al.  A compensated radiolucent electrode array for combined EIT and mammography , 2007, Physiological measurement.

[2]  Alexander S Ross,et al.  Current source design for electrical impedance tomography. , 2003, Physiological measurement.

[3]  J Jossinet,et al.  A Review of Parameters for the Bioelectrical Characterization of Breast Tissue , 1999, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[4]  G.J. Saulnier,et al.  ACT3: a high-speed, high-precision electrical impedance tomograph , 1991, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[5]  Gary J Saulnier,et al.  A high-precision voltage source for EIT. , 2006, Physiological measurement.

[6]  Ning Liu,et al.  A multichannel synthesizer and voltmeter for electrical impedance tomography , 2003, Proceedings of the 25th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37439).

[7]  Stuchly,et al.  Dielectric properties of breast carcinoma and the surrounding tissues , 1988, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.