A Study On The Assessment Of Breast Vascular Morphology And Function In Women Of Different Ages By Photoacoustic Imaging

ObjectiveTo assess the clinical feasibility of the automatic scanning three-dimensional photoacoustic/ultrasound(PA/US)dual-modal imaging system,and to explore the age-related changes in normal female breast vascular morphology and function.MethodsIn this study,PA/US imaging system was used to carry out prospective clinical research on healthy female volunteers of different ages.PA/US dual-mode imaging data and quantitative physiological parameters of the target region in breast tissue were obtained respectively.PA/US dual-mode imaging data included color Doppler ultrasonography(CDUS),two-dimensional PA/US dual-mode images(750nm,830nm and dual wavelength)and three-dimensional vascular reconstruction images.The physiological parameters of photoacoustic imaging included relative vascular density(r-Vas),relative oxyhemoglobin concentration(r-Hbo),relative deoxyhemoglobin concentration(r-dHb),relative total hemoglobin concentration(r-tHb),and photoacoustic oxygen saturation(PA-SO2).Comparison in multiple groups was conducted by one-way ANOVA.Pairwise comparison among groups was done with Bonferroni test.ResultsA total of 55 female volunteers were included in this study:17 subjects at the age of 18-35,18 subjects at the age of 36-50,and 20 subjects at the age of 51-67.Analysis of PA/US dual-mode imaging data showed that breast tissue of younger women tended to have more blood vessels and lower levels of PA-SO2.The statistical analysis results of quantitative data were as follows:The level of r-dHb,r-Hbo,r-tHb and r-Vas in 51-67 years group was significantly lower than those in 16-35 years group(r-dHb,p<0.001;r-Hbo,p=0.006;tHb,p=0.001;Vas,p<0.001,respectively).On the contrary,the level of PA-SO2 in 51-67 years group was significantly higher than those both in 18-35 and 36-50 years group(18-35,p<0.001;36-50,p<0.001).ConclusionThe automatic scanning three-dimensional PA/US dual-modality imaging system has good clinical feasibility for the evaluation of breast blood supply characteristics,and can non-invasively assess the age-related changes in breast vascular morphology and function,showing good potential in clinical application.