Electrical impedance scanning and high frequency ultrasonography for diagnosis of small breast cancers

    YUE Ji, ZHOU Xiaoª²Dong, FU Feng, DONG Xiuª²Zhen, ZHENG Yu, GUO Qingª²Xia, ZHANG Qi

    1Department of Medical Electronics, School of Biomedical Engineering, 2Department of Ultrasonography, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic value of electrical impedance scanning (EIS) and highª²frequency ultrasonography for small breast cancer. METHODS: Fiftyª²four patients with pathologicallyª²proven breast masses (diameter¡Ü2 cm) were detected by EIS and highª²frequency ultrasonography within three days. RESULTS: Of the 23 patients with breast cancer, 17 were diagnosed as small breast cancer by EIS. The sensitivity was 73.9%, the specificity was 80.6%, and the accuracy was 77.8%. The positive predictive value (PPV) and the negative predictive value (NPV) were 73.9% and 80.6%, respectively. Twenty of the 23 patients with breast cancer were diagnosed as small breast cancer by highª²frequency ultrasonography. The sensitivity was 87.0%, the specificity was 87.1%, and the accuracy was 87.0%. The PPV and NPV were 83.3%and 90.0%, respectively. When the highª²frequency ultrasonography and EIS were used together, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy reached 95.6%, 90.3%and 92.6% respectively and the PPV and NPV reached 88.0% and 96.6%. CONCLUSION: EIS is of great value in the diagnosis of small breast cancers. The diagnostic accuracy will be increased with the combination of EIS and ultrasonography. ......