LOW-COST SCREENING SYSTEM FOR BREAST CANCER DETECTION

• US 20150182121A1
• Filed: 07/19/2013
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (State University of New York)
• Original Assignee: The Research Foundation for The State University of New York (State University of New York)
• Inventors: Barbour, Randall L., Al Abdi, Rabah M., Graber, Harry
• Application Number:
  US14/415,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20150182121A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0013 Medical image data A61B1/00011, A61B6/56, A61B8/56 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0073 by tomography, i.e. reconstruction of 3D images from 2D projections A61B5/0066 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0091 for mammography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6804 Garments; Clothes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7282 Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence

Abstract

A portable and wearable tumor detector includes a brassier and devices for enabling optical tomography in a non-clinical setting. Light emitting devices and light sensing devices are provided on the brassier, and a controller for performing a tomographic scanning is attached to the brassier. A computing means and a communication means may be provided to generate at least one tomographic image. Each of the two breasts under examination can be employed as a reference structure for generating a tomographic image for the other of the two breasts, thereby providing a self-referencing image generation mechanism. The images and/or data can be reviewed by the subject of the tomographic scanning or by a medical professional. The tomographic scanning can be performed at any location if provided with a portable power supply system.

Claims

1. A tumor detector comprising:

a brassiere conforming to a pair of human breasts;

a light emitting device configured to emit light at a plurality of emission points on said brassiere;

a light sensing device configured to detect light at a plurality of detection points on said brassiere; and

a controller configured to control timing of light emission at said plurality of emission points and to collect data measured by said light sensing device.

2. The tumor detector of claim 1, further comprising a computing means attached to said brassiere and configured to is configured to generate at least one tomographic image.

3. The tumor detector of claim 2, wherein said computing means is physically attached to said brassiere.

4. The tumor detector of claim 2, wherein said at least one tomographic image comprises at least one of a two-dimensional map and a three-dimensional map of human breasts.

5. The tumor detector of claim 4, further comprising a display device configured to display said at least one tomographic image through data transmission from said computing device to said display device.

6. The tumor detector of claim 4, wherein said computing means is configured to transmit said at least one tomographic image to a medical facility via wireless communication or via wired communication.

7. The tumor detector of claim 2, the computing means is configured to generate at least one image for optical density in a breast among said pair of human breasts employing data from another breast among said pair of human breasts as a base line for determining presence or absence of anomalous deviations in optical density in said breast.

8. The tumor detector of claim 2, wherein said computing means is configured:

to compare a left-breast image from a left breast within said pair of human breasts with a right-breast image from a right breast within said pair of human breasts, and

to generate a map of regions in which local variations in optical density of materials in each of said pair of human breasts are illustrated.

9. The tumor detector of claim 8, wherein said left-breast image is generated employing data from said right breast as reference data, and said right-breast image is generated employing data from said left breast as reference data.

10. The tumor detector of claim 2, wherein said computing means is configured to:

generate a pair of images corresponding to each of said pair of breasts; and

determine if one of said pair of images differ from another of said pair of images by more than a predefined threshold for identifying presence of a tumor.

11. The tumor detector of claim 1, wherein said light emitting device is configured to emit near infrared radiation having a wavelength in a range from 800 nm to 2,500 nm.

12. The tumor detector of claim 1, further comprising a portable power supply device attached to said brassier and providing power to said light emitting device and said controller.

13. The tumor detector of claim 1, wherein said plurality of emission points and said plurality of detection points are fixed location on said brassiere.

14. The tumor detector of claim 1, wherein said plurality of emission points and said plurality of detection points are located on opposing sides of each cup within said brassiere.

15. The tumor detector of claim 14, wherein said plurality of emission points is located above a horizontal plane passing through apexes of said cups, and said plurality of detection points is located below said horizontal plane.

16. The tumor detector of claim 14, wherein said plurality of emission points is located below a horizontal plane passing through apexes of said cups, and said plurality of detection points is located above said horizontal plane.

17. The tumor detector of claim 1, wherein said tumor detector is a portable device configured to be operated without external power supply while mounted on a person.

18. A method of performing a tomographic scan process, said method comprising:

providing a tumor detector of claim 1; and

performing a tomographic scan process employing said tumor detector.

19. A method of detecting presence of a tumor in human breasts, said method comprising:

providing an assembly of a brassiere, a light emitting device located on said brassiere, and a light sensing device located on said brassiere, wherein said light emitting device is configured to emit light at a plurality of emission points on said brassiere, and said light sensing device is configured to detect light at a plurality of detection points on said brassiere;

disposing said assembly on a pair of human breasts;

illuminating said pair of human breasts with near infrared radiation from said light emitting device;

detecting radiation at said plurality of detection points employing said light sensing device; and

comparing a pair of images from said pair of human breasts to determine if one of said pair of images differ from another of said pair of images by more than a predefined threshold for identifying presence of a tumor.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

controlling timing of light emission at said plurality of emission points employing a controller; and

collecting data measured by said light sensing device employing said controller.