DIGITAL MAMMOGRAPHY FOR STEREOTACTIC NEEDLE PLACEMENT

THE PROPOSED PLAN IS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEEDLE BIOPSY AND NEEDLE LOCALIZATION DEVICE THAT CAN BE USED WITH EXISTING MAMMOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT. USING A STEREOTACTIC ALGORITHM, THIS EQUIPMENT WILL ENABLE AN OPERATOR TO PLACE A BIOPSY NEEDLE OR A LOCALIZATION NEEDLE PRIOR TO OPEN BIOPSY OF THE BREAST IN THREE DIMENSIONS WITHIN PLUS OR MINUS 1-2 MILLIMETERS. SINCE THIS METHOD UTILIZES A COMPUTER AND DOES NOT REQUIRE PHOTOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT, THE ENTIRE PROCESS COULD BE PERFORMED IN A FEW MINUTES. IN PHASE I, COMPONENTS WILL BE SELECTED AND PROCURED, SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED AND AN ERROR ANALYSIS WILL BE PERFORMED. INITIAL BREAD-BOARD TESTING WILL BE PERFORMED TOVERIFY THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS METHOD. IN PHASE II, A PROTOTYPE DEVICE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED, CLINICAL TESTING WILL BE PERFORMED, AND MODIFICATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO THE DESIGN.