Correlation between minimum apparent diffusion coefficient values and the histological grade of breast invasive ductal carcinoma.

The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between the minimum apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCmin) value and the histological grade of breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). In total, 129 pathologically verified lesions that were subjected to dynamic breast magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion weighted imaging prior to biopsy were included. The ADCmin value was calculated and its correlation with the tumor histological grade was investigated. Tumors of lower grades demonstrated significantly higher ADCmin values as compared with tumors of higher grades (F=33.49; P<0.01). The mean ADCmin values for IDC of grades I, II and III were (1.14±0.11)×10-3, (0.99±0.12)×10-3 and (0.86±0.13)×10-3 mm2/sec, respectively. Statistically significant differences were detected in the mean ADCmin value between tumors of grades II and III (P<0.01), as well as between tumors of grades I and II (P<0.01). In addition, the mean ADCmin values for the less aggressive (grades I and II) and more aggressive (grade III) groups were (1.01±0.13)×10-3 and (0.86±0.13)×10-3 mm2/sec, respectively (t=5.76, P<0.01). In conclusion, these data indicated that the ADCmin value was correlated with the IDC histological grade, and lower ADCmin values were associated with a higher histological grade and more aggressiveness. Thus, the ADCmin value may be considered as a promising prognostic parameter in identifying tumor aggressiveness.

Diagnostic evaluations of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in mammary duct ectasia and breast cancer.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of mammary duct ectasia (MDE) and breast cancer. This retrospective study was performed on 35 patients with MDE and 105 patients with breast cancer using US and MRI. Imaging features, semi-quantitative and quantitative parameters were analyzed to determine their diagnostic value for MDE and breast cancer. The average age of patients with breast cancer was increased compared with that of patients with MDE. There were no significant differences in local packages with or without tenderness ratio (P=0.259) and grade of color Doppler flow imaging (P=0.273) between the two groups. However, the morphological changes were significantly increased in breast cancer compared with MDE. In addition, there were significant diagnostic differences in US and MRI between breast cancer and MDE, including resistance index, US elastography, time-signal intensity curve, apparent diffusion coefficient, early-stage enhancement ratio, peak-of-enhancement ratio and Tpeak (P<0.05). However, there were no observable significant diagnostic differences between US, MRI and US with MRI for MDE and breast cancer (P=0.103, P=0.263 and P=0.403 respectively). Diagnosis of MDE and breast cancer requires full evaluation of multiple parameters and morphological changes of US and MRI to increase the diagnostic efficiency. US, MRI and US with MRI were all of diagnostic value for MDE and breast cancer, while US with MRI had the highest efficacy.

Piezoelectric bimorph optical-fiber sensor.

We propose and demonstrate a novel high-voltage optical-fiber sensor. This sensor consists of an emitting fiber, a receiving fiber, and a piezoelectric bimorph transducer. The emitting fiber is fixed in a base, whereas the receiving fiber is mounted on the free end of the piezoelectric bimorph transducer. When a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric bimorph transducer, its free end is displaced over a distance delta. The displacement induces a loss in the optical coupling between the emitting and the receiving fiber. The voltage can be measured by monitoring the coupling loss.