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Multispectral optoacoustic tomography of the human breast: characterisation of healthy tissue and malignant lesions using a hybrid ultrasound-optoacoustic approach

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Abstract

Background and aim

Multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) represents a new in vivo imaging technique with high resolution (~250 μm) and tissue penetration (>1 cm) using the photoacoustic effect. While ultrasound contains anatomical information for lesion detection, MSOT provides functional information based on intrinsic tissue chromophores. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of combined ultrasound/MSOT imaging of breast cancer in patients compared to healthy volunteers.

Methods

Imaging was performed using a handheld MSOT system for clinical use in healthy volunteers (n = 6) and representative patients with histologically confirmed invasive breast carcinoma (n = 5) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS, n = 2). MSOT values for haemoglobin and oxygen saturation were assessed at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 cm depth and selected wavelengths between 700 and 850 nm.

Results

Reproducible signals were obtained in all wavelengths with consistent MSOT signals in superficial tissue in breasts of healthy individuals. In contrast, we found increased signals for haemoglobin in invasive carcinoma, suggesting a higher perfusion of the tumour and tumour environment. For DCIS, MSOT values showed only little variation compared to healthy tissue.

Conclusions

This preliminary MSOT breast imaging study provided stable, reproducible data on tissue composition and physiological properties, potentially enabling differentiation of solid malignant and healthy tissue.

Key Points

• A handheld MSOT probe enables real-time molecular imaging of the breast.

• MSOT of healthy controls provides a reproducible reference for pathology identification.

• MSOT parameters allows for differentiation of invasive carcinoma and healthy tissue.

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Abbreviations

DCIS:

Ductal carcinoma in situ

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

MSOT:

Multispectral optoacoustic tomography

OA:

Optoacoustic

PET:

Positron emission tomography

ROI:

Region of interest

RUCT:

Reflection ultrasound computed tomography

US:

Ultrasound

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Compliance with ethical standards

Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Moritz Wildgruber.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare relationships with the following companies:

Jing Claussen and Steven J. Ford are employees of iThera Medical, a manufacturer of commercial optoacoustic scanners.

Funding

The authors state that this work has not received any funding.

Statistics and biometry

One of the authors has significant statistical expertise.

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects (patients) in this study.

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board approval was waived because scans were obtained during a pilot test series, which was covered under the Declaration of Helsinki §37 (‘individual healing research’)

Methodology

• prospective

• experimental

• performed at one institution

Author information

Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, A16, 49149, Muenster, Germany

      Anne Becker, Max Masthoff, Matthias Burg, Walter Heindel, Michel Eisenblätter & Moritz Wildgruber

    2. iThera Medical, Munich, Germany

      Jing Claussen & Steven James Ford

    3. Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany

      Wolfgang Roll & Michael Schäfers

    4. Gerhard-Domagk-Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany

      Peter J. Barth

    5. European Institute for Molecular Imaging – EIMI, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany

      Michael Schäfers

    6. Divison of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King’s College London, London, UK

      Michel Eisenblätter

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    1. Anne Becker
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    2. Max Masthoff
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Moritz Wildgruber.

    Additional information

    Anne Becker and Max Masthoff contributed equally to this work.

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    Becker, A., Masthoff, M., Claussen, J. et al. Multispectral optoacoustic tomography of the human breast: characterisation of healthy tissue and malignant lesions using a hybrid ultrasound-optoacoustic approach. Eur Radiol 28, 602–609 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-017-5002-x

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-017-5002-x

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