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Terahertz Imaging of Three-Dimensional Dehydrated Breast Cancer Tumors

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Abstract

This work presents the application of terahertz imaging to three-dimensional formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human breast cancer tumors. The results demonstrate the capability of terahertz for in-depth scanning to produce cross section images without the need to slice the tumor. Samples of tumors excised from women diagnosed with infiltrating ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma are investigated using a pulsed terahertz time domain imaging system. A time of flight estimation is used to obtain vertical and horizontal cross section images of tumor tissues embedded in paraffin block. Strong agreement is shown comparing the terahertz images obtained by electronically scanning the tumor in-depth in comparison with histopathology images. The detection of cancer tissue inside the block is found to be accurate to depths over 1 mm. Image processing techniques are applied to provide improved contrast and automation of the obtained terahertz images. In particular, unsharp masking and edge detection methods are found to be most effective for three-dimensional block imaging.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the pathology staff at the Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates, P.A., for providing histopathology services for the tissue used in this work. This work was funded by NSF-MRI no. 1228958 and NSF awards no. 1408007 and no. DGE-1450079, and the University of Arkansas Distinguished Doctoral Fellowship program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, 3217 Bell Engineering Center, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Tyler Bowman & Magda El-Shenawee

  2. Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, University of Arkansas, 504 J. B. Hunt Building, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Yuhao Wu & John Gauch

  3. Northwest Arkansas Pathology Associates, P.A., 390 E. Longview St., Fayetteville, AR, 72703, USA

    Lucas K. Campbell

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  1. Tyler Bowman
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  2. Yuhao Wu
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  5. Magda El-Shenawee
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Correspondence to Tyler Bowman.

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Bowman, T., Wu, Y., Gauch, J. et al. Terahertz Imaging of Three-Dimensional Dehydrated Breast Cancer Tumors. J Infrared Milli Terahz Waves 38, 766–786 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-017-0377-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10762-017-0377-y

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