Diagnostic Criteria for Mass Lesions Differentiating in Electrical Impedance Mammography

Currently, there emerged a necessity of a standardized description of volumetric lesions and developing of a system for volumetric lesions description in the mammary gland to be in line with ACR BI-RADS categories. The purpose of this research was to determine the diagnostic criteria for differentiating volumetric lesions in the mammary gland in electrical impedance mammography. The research was carried out utilizing the electrical impedance computer mammograph «MEIK v.5.6»®, which enables to acquire images of 3-D conductivity distribution layers within mamma’s tissues up to 5 cm depth. The weighted reciprocal projection method was employed to reconstruct the 3-D electric conductivity distribution of the examined organ. The results of 3,710 electrical impedance examinations were analyzed. The analysis of a mass lesion was conducted in BI-RADS ACR terms and included assessment of its shape, contour, internal electrical structure and changes of the surrounding tissues. Moreover, mammary gland status was evaluated with the help of comparative and age-related electrical conductivity curves. The diagnostic charts were built and will be discussed in this talk. Each criterion was measured in points. Using the numerical score for evaluation of volumetric and non-volumetric lesions within the mammary gland in electrical impedance mammography allowed comparing this information to BI-RADS ACR categories