Three-dimensional modeling of female breast based on thermograms for thermophysical studies of breast pathologies

Abstract

Purpose: Thermographyis a technique that has been proposed as a complementary examination for the detectionof breast cancer. These images have also been used to validatethree-dimensional numerical simulations, where temperature profiles arecalculated and used for a better understanding of breast abnormalities.Therefore, the development of a realistic model would enable a better reliableestimation of the thermophysical properties of the breast and itscomorbidities. Method: Thisstudy presents a method for the development of a personalized three-dimensionalbreast geometry from the curves manually extracted from the thermogramscontained in the thermographic image database of the Federal University ofPernambuco (UFPE). The collected images belong to voluntary patients whoreceived the complete diagnostic and were seen at Hospital das Clínicas - UFPE.With the manual extraction of the profile curve, the final 3D geometry presentsa much more similar aspect with the superficial anatomy of the female breast. Results: Theresults obtained by numerical simulation of the temperature profile werecompared with the results obtained using previous geometry, showing that themethod proposed in this study can be successfully used for the calculationspresented. Conclusion: Themethod suggested by this study brought a simplification of the productionprocess of three-dimensional breast models based on thermographic images.