New technology could revolutionize breast cancer...(ers view the breast from several differe...),Health

In the initial stages of the study the team used mammogram images to compare similar abnormalities in the new 3D image produced from the radio breast imaging system.

Professor Preece from the University's Medical Physics, said: "I started off looking at breast tumour imaging in 1990 using a hand held scanner similar to ultrasound however it did not have enough sensitivity and that's when I got to know some people in engineering and together we approached the EPSRC to help.

"Using this engineering knowledge we built the machine using ground penetrating radar, a similar technique to land mine detection to take four hundred quarter of a second pictures of the breast to form a 3D image.

"Women do not feel any sensation and it equates to the same type of radiation exposure as speaking into a mobile phone at arms length which makes it much safer.

"We are extremely grateful for North Bristol NHS Trust help in getting the project underway with so much enthusiasm.

"We are constantly learning and adapting and it has been particularly easy to work with NBT, we have seen some very promising results so far."

In the coming months the team plan on "testing blind", this means looking at images taken by both machines and examining each independently to check whether the radio breast imaging system's 3D image picks up the same abnormalities as a mammogram would and if anything else is identified in the new image.

They hope that if the results continue, further trials will be scheduled for the next 12 months. These trials will focus specifically on young women as these can prove the most challenging. They also hope that two new prototypes will be made for further trials in other hospitals around the country.

"This technology will ultimately only benefit the patient if it can be successfully commercialised", said Roy Johnson, CEO of Micrima Ltd, "this new
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