Breast Permittivity Imaging

Selaka Bandara Bulumulla¹, Ileana Hancu¹

Malignant breast tissue has been found to have higher permittivity and conductivity relative to healthy tissue ex-vivo, generating interest in non-invasive methods to image breast tissue electrical properties. While non-invasive imaging of electrical properties using B1+ maps has been demonstrated for the brain, the method has not been extended to other anatomical parts, partly due to lack of transmit-receive coils to obtain accurate B1+ maps. We investigate the feasibility of breast permittivity imaging using an eight channel, receive only breast coil array and demonstrate permittivity image consistent with adipose dominated breast tissue as well as fat suppressed anatomical image.