Development of Tissue Phantoms for a New Breast Cancer Detection Technique

We demonstrate the development and mechanical property measurement of gelatin-based tissue phantoms for use in a new breast cancer detection technique.  By varying the gelatin concentration from 4.0% to 12.0% by weight, we created tissue phantom samples with Young’s moduli ranging from 3.6 ± 0.6 kPa to 21.7 ± 0.1 kPa, effectively mimicking the stiffness of healthy and cancerous breast tissue, respectively.  We investigated the use of sodium alginate—an anionic polysaccharide derived from the cell wall of brown algae—as a strengthening and toughening agent to make the gelatin more resistant to cracking and splitting during physical handling and compression testing.  We also analyzed the effects of strain rate, multiple testing, aging, and evaporation on the sample Young’s modulus.  Finally, we created composite breast tissue phantoms containing embedded “tumors” which were subsequently tested using a robotic indentation device to capture the normal displacements of the sample surface with a 3-D imaging system. It is hoped that in the near future such tests may complement manual breast palpation techniques and provide a quantitative, non-invasive, and non-radiological route to detect and characterize breast tissue lesions.