SMARTProbe -: An informative biopsy needle with bioimpedance sensing for real-time breast lesion screening

Patients who present with a breast lesion require clinical and radiological examination for breast disease detection. For a definitive diagnosis, biopsy under ultrasound guidance is performed for histological assessment to determine if lesion is malignant or benign. The biopsy needle, currently a passive instrument, if integrated with impedance sensing, can give real time information for use as a tissue discriminating tool. Bio-impedance is a technique which enables the use of three variables (resistance, reactance and phase angle) as indices of structural and functional biological variables. The frequency dependent electrical impulse gives the physiology and pathological information about the conductive and dielectric properties of cells. The differences in electrical properties of malignant and healthy tissues are associated with increased water and mineral content within tumor cells, the changes in membrane permeability, altered packing density as well as orientation of cells. The prototype SMARTProbe, with bioimpedance sensing, is able to discriminate healthy tissue from malignant and benign lesions in ex-vivo clinical investigation. The fabrication process of sensors allows for defined and constant electrode distance, which enables small alternate current to be used, thus, decreasing variability as a result of tissue heterogeneity.