3D Localization and Treatment Monitoring of Breast Tumors Using Temperature Mapping of RF Excited Magnetic Nanoparticles

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in American women and results in approximately a half million deaths each year worldwide. The disease can be successfully treated by surgical removal when identified early. However, current breast cancer imaging modalities are expensive, radiative, relatively unavailable or inaccurate. Thermography can answer this need. Such method can be used in conjugation with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) to achieve high specificity. A localized heat source is created through a low-frequency RF applied to tissue to excite the tumor conjugated MNPs according to a specific waveform. A heat dissipation algorithm utilizing the surface (skin) thermal video and the specific excitation waveform enables us to reconstruct a 3D temperature map of the volume. Thus, monitor the heat source spreading and accumulation throughout the breast tissue and output an estimated position and size of the tumors. Additionally, assessing the nanoparticles accumulation and density inside the tumor volume allows for an efficient and controlled thermal ablation of the entire hostile object.