Comunicazione
A smart optical and ultrasound device for the diagnostics of breast cancer.
Maffeis G., Pifferi A., Dalla Mora A., Di Sieno L., Tosi A., Conca E., Giudice A., Ruggeri A., Tisa S., Flocke A., Rosinski B., Dinten J.-M., Perriollat M., Fraschini C., Lavaud J., Arridge S., Di Sciacca G., Farina A., Panizza P., Venturini E., Gordebeke P., Taroni P.
SOLUS is a H2020 funded project devoted to the design, development and testing in clinics of a Smart Optical and Ultrasound device for the diagnostics of breast cancer. Smartness stems from the purpose (discrimination of benign and malignant lesions), the method (non-invasive characterization of the tissue) and the technology (multimodal and compact device). In fact, the collaboration of all partners allowed the first integration of time domain multi-wavelength diffuse optical tomography (composition) and commercial ultrasound (morphology), color doppler (vascularization) and shear wave elastography (stiffness) in a hand-held probe. The development of miniaturized optical components was essential: laser drivers generating picosecond pulses, large-area time-gated detectors and dedicated acquisition electronics. Data analysis required a custom-made approach as well for diffuse optical tomography. After the assembly, the instrument has been thoroughly characterized in laboratory on phantoms mimicking the optical and ultrasound properties of a breast. Early results of the clinical validation of the SOLUS system now ongoing on patients with breast lesions will be presented.