University of Twente Student Theses
The effect of skin pigmentation on the imaging performance in photoacoustic breast tomography
Lubbers, N.S. (2024) The effect of skin pigmentation on the imaging performance in photoacoustic breast tomography.
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| Full Text Status: | Access to this publication is restricted |
| Embargo date: | 4 July 2025 |
| Abstract: | This study aims to investigate the influence of pigmentation on the imaging performance of the PAM3 system for photoacoustic breast imaging. Three novel breast phantoms with a skin-mimicking layer were developed. A melanin-mimicking substance was used in the skin-mimicking layer to match a small selection of skin tones. To assess the influence of skin tone on the imaging performance, the imaging depth, the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) of various targets the occurrence of artefacts and the photoacoustic spectra of the skin were determined. A similar analysis was conducted on the already available data of three volunteers with different skin tones. The results are highly suggestive for a significant decrease in imaging depth and SBR. The results also show that the use of longer wavelengths for imaging the breasts for darker skin tones might be advantageous. However, there were some major limitations. The skin-mimicking layers of the phantoms were not homogeneous, and the base material contained air bubbles. The volunteers from the volunteer case study had different breast sizes and tissue compositions. Nonetheless, this study showed the relevance of investigating an inadvertent technical “racial” bias for PAI and that compensation methods are necessary before photoacoustic breast imaging can become clinical practice. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | TNW: Science and Technology |
| Subject: | 44 medicine |
| Programme: | Technical Medicine MSc (60033) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/100641 |
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