LIGHT-SCAN-ORIENTED DOPPLER DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A PRACTICAL METHODOLOGY FOR EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER BY COMBINING THE COMPLEMENTARY NONIONIZING MODALITIES OF LIGHT SCAN AND DOPPLER ULTRASOUND. LIGHT SCAN, IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS PROPOSAL, REFERS TO THE TRANSILLUMINATION OFTHE BREAST BY RED AND NEAR-INFRARED LIGHT, WITH EXAMINATION OF BOTH ABSOLUTE TRANSMISSION AND THE RATIO OF TRANSMISSION AT THE TWO FREQUENCIES. SUCH LIGHT SCANS CAN INTERROGATE THE BREAST VOLUME FOR TISSUE THAT MAY BE MALIGNANT TO PROVIDE ORIENTATION FOR A SECOND, NONIONIZING MODALITY, DOPPLER ULTRASOUND. DURING PHASE I, SPECTRASCAN, INC. WILL DEVELOP, THROUGH BOTHMATHEMATICAL SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTATION, PRACTICAL TRANSDUCER DESIGNS FOR AN ULTRASOUND DOPPLER SPECIFICALLY SUITED TO EARLY DETECTION OF BREAST CANCER. THE ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO IMPLEMENT A PRACTICAL BREAST CANCER-DETECTING DOPPLER FOR USE IN THE CLINICAL SETTING WILL BE DESIGNED, CONSTRUCTED, AND TESTED. A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR CLINICAL TESTING COMBINING LIGHT SCANNING AND DOPPLER ULTRASOUND WILL BE DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED. IN PHASE II, CLINICAL STUDIES WILL BE INITIATED TO DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE COMBINED MODALITY IN TERMS OF THE RECEIVER-OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS. THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WILL BE FURTHER REFINED TO A PRACTICAL UNITSUITABLE FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATION.