An Analytical Approach for Pulse Compression Favorable Digitized Frequency Modulated Thermal Wave Imaging Technique for the Quantitative Estimation of Breast Cancer

Abstract

Among several noninvasive diagnostic modalities used for identifying and assessing breast cancer, a recently proposed digitized frequency-modulated thermal wave imaging (DFMTWI) has emerged as a widely applied active thermographic technique. DFMTWI has demonstrated its capabilities for early diagnosis and quantitative evaluation of breast cancer by exhibiting better pulse compression properties. This approach delivers better depth resolution and sensitivity than standard thermographic techniques. The current research illustrates the novel analytical model for the pulse compression favorable DFMTWI technique for the quantitative estimation of breast cancer. Using Green's function approach, an analytical model has been solved by considering the multilayer Pennes bioheat transfer equation with adiabatic boundary conditions and a constant initial condition. The conventional thermographic techniques (such as Lock-in Thermography (LT) and Pulse Thermography (PT)) are also solved with a similar approach as followed for DFMTWI. The results obtained for the proposed DFMTWI and the conventional LT and PT thermographic techniques are then compared and validated with the numerical results obtained from the numerical simulation considering the correlation coefficient as a figure of merit for early-stage breast cancer diagnosis.