PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Screening for breast cancer without X-rays: Lasers and sound merge in promising diagnostic technique

Screening for breast cancer without X-rays: Lasers and sound merge in promising diagnostic technique
2012-05-08
(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON, May 7—X-ray mammography is an important diagnostic tool in the fight against breast cancer, but it has certain drawbacks that limit its effectiveness. For example, it can give in false positive and negative results; it also exposes women to low doses of ionizing radiation, which – while accepted as safe – still carry some risk.

In the first phase of clinical testing of a new imaging device, researchers from Netherlands' University of Twente and Medisch Spectrum Twente Hospital in Oldenzaal used photoacoustics – light-induced sound – rather than ionizing radiation to detect and visualize breast tumors. The team's preliminary results, which were conducted on 12 patients with diagnosed malignancies and reported today in the Optical Society's (OSA (http://www.osa.org)) open-access journal Optics Express (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe), provide proof-of-concept support that the technology can distinguish malignant tissue by providing high-contrast images of tumors.

"While we're very early in the development of this new technology, it is promising. Our hope is that these early results will one day lead to the development of a safe, comfortable, and accurate alternative or adjunct to conventional techniques for detecting breast tumors," explained researcher Michelle Heijblom, a Ph.D. student at the University of Twente.

Photoacoustics, a hybrid optical and acoustical imaging technique, builds on the established technology of using red and infrared light to image tissue and detect tumors. This technology, called optical mammography, reveals malignancies because blood hemoglobin readily absorbs the longer, redder wavelengths of light, which reveals a clear contrast between blood-vessel dense tumor areas and normal vessel environments. However, it is difficult to target the specific area to be imaged with this approach.

As a means of improving this, the researchers combined the light-based system's ability to distinguish between benign and malignant tissue with ultrasound to achieve superior targeting ability. The result of their refinements is a specialized instrument, the Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope (PAM), which was first tested in 2007.

The device is built into a hospital bed, where the patient lies prone and positions her breast for imaging. Laser light at a wavelength of 1,064 nanometers scans the breast. Because there is increased absorption of the light in malignant tissue the temperature slightly increases. With the rise in temperature, thermal expansion creates a pressure wave, which is detected by an ultrasound detector placed on one side of the breast. The resulting photoacoustic signals are then processed by the PAM system and reconstructed into images. These images reveal abnormal areas of high intensity (tumor tissue) as compared to areas of low intensity (benign tissue). This is one of the first times that the technique has been tested on breast cancer patients.

By comparing the photoacoustic data with conventional diagnostic X-rays, ultrasound imaging, MRI, and tissue exams, the researchers showed that malignancies produced a distinct photoacoustic signal that is potentially clinically useful for making a diagnosis of breast cancer. The team also observed that the photoacoustic contrast of the malignant tissue is higher than the contrast provided by the conventional X-ray mammographies.

In looking to the future, notes Heijblom, "PAM needs some technical improvements before it is a really valuable clinical tool for diagnosis or treatment of breast cancer. Our next step is to make those improvements and then evaluate less obvious potential tumors, benign lesions, and normal breasts with it."

INFORMATION:

Paper: "Visualizing breast cancer using the Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope: What do we learn from twelve new patient measurements? (http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-20-11-11582)" Optics Express, Vol. 20, Issue 11, pp. 11582-11592 (2012).

EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution images of the Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope and its images are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Sarah Cogan, scogan@osa.org.

About Optics Express

Optics Express reports on new developments in all fields of optical science and technology every two weeks. The journal provides rapid publication of original, peer-reviewed papers. It is published by the Optical Society and edited by C. Martijn de Sterke of the University of Sydney. Optics Express is an open-access journal and is available at no cost to readers online at http://www.OpticsInfoBase.org/OE.

About OSA

Uniting more than 130,000 professionals from 175 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Screening for breast cancer without X-rays: Lasers and sound merge in promising diagnostic technique

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UWCCorp Helps Small Business Owners Seize Social Marketing Potential

2012-05-08
It is increasingly difficult to deny the reality that, for businesses of all shapes and sizes, social media is the future of public relations. This point was driven home when major financial firm Goldman Sachs announced that it would be hiring a full-time social media strategist. According to a report in the New York Times, Goldman's social media strategist will be tasked with overseeing the various online communities that have built up around the firm, as well as cultivating a "positive online presence" for the company. This underscores just how vital social ...

New research brings satellite measurements and global climate models closer

New research brings satellite measurements and global climate models closer
2012-05-08
One popular climate record that shows a slower atmospheric warming trend than other studies contains a data calibration problem, and when the problem is corrected the results fall in line with other records and climate models, according to a new University of Washington study. The finding is important because it helps confirm that models that simulate global warming agree with observations, said Stephen Po-Chedley, a UW graduate student in atmospheric sciences who wrote the paper with Qiang Fu, a UW professor of atmospheric sciences. They identified a problem with the ...

Asher Enterprises Assists Small Businesses Facing Major Costs

2012-05-08
It is often said that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, yet for many small business owners, it does not always feel that way. Some small business owners can feel as though they are taken advantage of, particularly by larger corporations that seek to exploit tax loopholes. A recent CNBC report draws attention to this phenomenon. According to the report, small business pay the price, literally, when larger corporations don't pay their fair share; in light of this, more and more small businesses are seeking financial assistance, not just from conventional ...

Protein may represent a switch to turn off B cell lymphoma

2012-05-08
Researchers studying the molecular signals that drive a specific type of lymphoma have discovered a key biological pathway leading to this type of cancer. Cancerous cells have been described as being "addicted" to certain oncogenes (cancer-causing genes), and the new research may lay the groundwork for breaking that addiction and effectively treating aggressive types of B cell lymphoma. B cell lymphomas, which occur both in children and adults, are cancers that attack B cells in the immune system. "Our research suggests ways to devise more specific therapies to selectively ...

New study published on fertility awareness among American university students

2012-05-08
ORANGE, Calif. – A groundbreaking study lead by Chapman University professor Brennan Peterson, Ph.D. on fertility awareness of American college students will be published in the May 5th edition of Human Reproduction—a top-tier international journal in reproductive biology. It is the first such study on fertility awareness among American undergraduate university students. In the USA, the postponement of childbearing is reflective of contemporary social norms of delaying marriage, pursuing education and securing economic stability prior to having a baby. However the awareness ...

Journals and pharma collaborate on new recommendations

2012-05-08
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The Medical Publishing Insights and Practices (MPIP) initiative and its co-sponsors recently collaborated with journal editors to characterize the persistent and perceived credibility gap in reporting industry-sponsored research and to identify potential approaches to resolve it. This unique round table, hosted by MPIP, reached consensus on Ten Recommendations for Closing the Credibility Gap in Reporting Industry-Sponsored Clinical Research as reported in the May issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Attendees of the roundtable agreed that important improvements ...

Scarring cells revert to inactive state as liver heals

Scarring cells revert to inactive state as liver heals
2012-05-08
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts – cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury – revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys. The work is published in the May 7, 2012 online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "The ...

Diabetes drug could treat leading cause of blindness

2012-05-08
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have discovered that a drug already prescribed to millions of people with diabetes could also have another important use: treating one of the world's leading causes of blindness. In laboratory rat and cell-culture experiments, the scientists found that metformin, which is commonly used to control blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes, also substantially reduced the effects of uveitis, an inflammation of the tissues just below the outer surface of the eyeball. Uveitis causes 10 to 15 percent of all cases of blindness ...

New and Improved Titan Poker Rewards Program

New and Improved Titan Poker Rewards Program
2012-05-08
One of the biggest online poker rooms in the world, Titan Poker recently upgraded its Titan Rewards program and introduced new schemes that will benefit all players, even new and casual visitors to its poker tables. Under the Monthly Cash program, players will receive a monthly supply of cash from the moment they sign up and download the Titan Poker software. For every 100 Titan Points that you accumulate, you will receive a $1 cash gift. This new program automatically rewards new and casual players who have not yet achieved VIP status with a return on their game play ...

Heart attack survivors living close to highways face higher 10-year death risk

2012-05-08
BOSTON – Living close to a major highway poses a significant risk to heart attack survivors, reinforcing the need to isolate housing developments from heavy traffic areas, a Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center study concludes. Writing in the May 7 edition of Circulation, researchers found heart attack survivors living less than 100 meters or 328 feet from a roadway have a 27 percent higher risk of over within 10 years than survivors living at least 1,000 meters away. That risk recedes to 13 percent for those living between 200 and 1,000-meter or 656 to 3,277-feet from ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists target ‘molecular machine’ in the war against antimicrobial resistance

Extending classical CNOP method for deep-learning atmospheric and oceanic forecasting

Aston University research: Parents should encourage structure and independence around food to support children’s healthy eating

Thunderstorms are a major driver of tree death in tropical forests

Danforth Plant Science Center adds two new faculty members

Robotic eyes mimic human vision for superfast response to extreme lighting

Racial inequities and access to COVID-19 treatment

Residential segregation and lung cancer risk in African American adults

Scientists wipe out aggressive brain cancer tumors by targeting cellular ‘motors’

Capturability distinction analysis of continuous and pulsed guidance laws

CHEST expands Bridging Specialties Initiative to include NTM disease and bronchiectasis on World Bronchiectasis Day

Exposure to air pollution may cause heart damage

SwRI, UTSA selected by NASA to test electrolyzer technology aboard parabolic flight

Prebiotics might be a factor in preventing or treating issues caused by low brain GABA

Youngest in class at higher risk of mental health problems

American Heart Association announces new volunteer leaders for 2025-26

Gut microbiota analysis can help catch gestational diabetes

FAU’s Paulina DeVito awarded prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Champions for change – Paid time off initiative just made clinical trials participation easier

Fentanyl detection through packaging

Prof. Eran Meshorer elected to EMBO for pioneering work in epigenetics

New 3D glacier visualizations provide insights into a hotter Earth

Creativity across disciplines

Consequences of low Antarctic sea ice

Hear here: How loudness and acoustic cues help us judge where a speaker is facing

A unique method of rare-earth recycling can strengthen the raw material independence of Europe and America

Epilepsy self-management program shows promise to control seizures, improve mood and quality of life

Fat may play an important role in brain metabolism

New study finds no lasting impact of pandemic pet ownership on human well-being

New insights on genetic damage of some chemotherapies could guide future treatments with less harmful side effects

[Press-News.org] Screening for breast cancer without X-rays: Lasers and sound merge in promising diagnostic technique