Tactile imaging : the requirements to transition from screening to diagnosis of breast cancer - a concise review of current capabilities and strategic direction

Hampson, R. and Anderson, R. G. and Dobie, G. (2022) Tactile imaging : the requirements to transition from screening to diagnosis of breast cancer - a concise review of current capabilities and strategic direction. Discussion paper. University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

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Abstract

This paper presents a review of Tactile Imaging, a developing technology for breast cancer screening finding traction in the marketplace. The paper identifies the necessary steps required to develop the technology from a screening method to the point where stand-alone diagnosis of suspected breast lesions can be performed without the need for a secondary care referral for a mammogram or biopsy. The relevant literature on Tactile Imaging is reviewed and current capabilities in academia are compared with those implemented in industry before being cross referenced with the metrics for breast cancer diagnosis. Tactile Imaging in academia has been shown to be capable of binary lesion classification and has seen extensive development, to where benign biopsy rates could be reduced by 23%. This has not been mirrored in the marketplace however, where market inertia relegates such systems to early warning screening only as an adjunct to mammography. Additionally, for detailed subclass diagnosis of breast conditions, more metrics are required than is currently available from Tactile Imaging at present. A detailed scheme of work is provided to achieve this. The additional metrics required for stand-alone diagnostics using Tactile Imaging are: background breast elasticity, lesion position on the breast, and lesion depth. These can estimate the lesion constituents and thus the histological diagnosis.

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https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00082176
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