英国多家大学和公司合作开发革命性的乳房影像检查技术

科研人员正在开发一种具有开创性的早期乳房癌症的新型影像检测方法。如果这项技术能够被证明是成功的，那么该技术就可以在各种年龄女性中使用。

这种检测技术的特性能够对乳房癌女性生存率产生重大影响。该技术使用一种全新的雷达系统，使得女性能够定期接受影像检查而无需当心过多的暴露于电离辐射的危险，这种辐射困扰着目前使用的X线系统，例如乳房X线影像检查。这种新技术具有穿透高密度乳房组织显像的能力，因此能够比乳房X线影像检查的所能检测的乳腺小叶还要广泛。

新技术扫描乳房的方法是：通过向乳房发射非常短的脉冲，然后评估来自乳房的反射。然后使用算法库评估放射来确定是否出现了异常。Alan Preece医生是英国Bristol大学医学生理学教授，是这项研究的首席研究员，他说：“乳腺癌是当今世界女性所面临的最大杀手。每年仅仅在英国就有41000例新病例出现。我们对这种新技术感到十分高兴，该技术的应用或许能够带来巨大的益处。”

尤其是小于50岁的女性能够从这种新型影像检测中获得巨大好处，在这个年龄组更多的依赖X线检测来发现肿瘤。这种新技术比乳房X线影像检测更加令人舒服，因为无需将乳房压缩在两个托盘之间。

这项研究在Bristol大学、Bath大学、Southampton大学以及Surrey大学之间合作进行。SETsquared公司(Southampton, UK)也参与了这些英国大学的研究项目。

Revolutionary Breast Imaging Technique
 
Scientists are developing a ground-breaking new imaging method to detect breast cancer at an early stage. If the technique proves successful, this method could be effective for women of all ages.

This modality could have a dramatic effect on the survival rate for women with breast cancer. The test uses a revolutionary radar system and will enable women to be imaged regularly without the fear of overexposure to ionizing radiation, a problem with existing x-ray systems, such as mammography. The new technology has the ability to image through dense breast tissue and thus can reach a much wider segment of women than mammography can.

The technique scans the breast by transmitting a very short impulse to the breast and then evaluates the reflections from within the breast. Algorithms are then utilized to assess the reflections to determine if abnormalities are evident. Dr. Alan Preece, professor of medical physics at the University of Bristol (UK) and one of the lead investigators on the study, stated, “Breast cancer is one of the biggest killers that women currently face. Each year, there are over 41,000 new cases in the UK alone. We are very excited about this new technology and the benefits that might come from its use.”

Women younger than 50 years of age will greatly benefit from this new imaging test, which is much more reliable than x-rays at finding tumors in this age group. The technique is also a much more comfortable procedure than mammography because it does not involve compressing the breast between plates.

This study is a collaboration between the universities of Bristol, Bath, Southampton, and Surrey (all in the UK). The company, SETsquared (Southampton, UK), is also working with the UK universities on the project.