Minimally Invasive Procedure for the Discrimination of Tissue Resistivity in Breast Cancer Patients

Patients affected by breast cancer will have their tissue analysed immediately following their surgical excision for the treatment of breast cancer. Two probes will be used: a linear probe of 4 needle-electrodes positioned in a row that is able to perform Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) measurements and a circular probe of 8 needle-electrodes arranged into a circular pattern that is able to generate cross sectional images (Electrical Impedance Tomography maps). Firstly, the linear probe will be inserted in the tumor parenchyma at a penetration depth of about 2 mm and the tissue impedance measurement will be performed along a broad spectrum of frequencies for few minutes. Approximately 10 seconds for each measurement will be needed. Subsequently, if the size of the tissue will allow it, the circular probe will be inserted in the tumor parenchyma at the same penetration depth and 10 cross sectional maps will be generated (approximately 30 seconds in total). Both information obtained using the linear and the circular probes will be integrated for a full characterization of the tissue under examination.