BINARY TISSUE CLASSIFICATION STUDIES ON RESECTED HUMAN BREAST TISSUES USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES

We report the results of a comparative study of Fourier domain analysis(FDA)and texture analysis(TA)of optical coherence tomography(OCT)images of resected human breast tissues for binary classification between normal
abnormal classes and benign
malignant classes.With the incorporation of Fisher linear discriminant analysis(FLDA)in TA for feature extraction,the TA-based algorithm provided improved diagnostic performance as compared to the FDAbased algorithm in discriminating OCT images corresponding to breast tissues with three different pathologies.The specificity and sensitivity values obtained for normal
abnormal classification were both 100%,whereas they were 90% and 85%,respectively for benign
malignant classification.

Surgical Outcomes Following Partial Breast Reconstruction with Chest Wall Perforator Flaps

Introduction: In the last two decades, chest wall perforator flaps (CWPF) have become a versatile tissue replacement technique for partial breast reconstruction following breast-conserving surgery (BCS) in well-selected cases. We present the surgical outcome of 81 patients with chest wall perforator flaps used for breast-conserving surgery. Methods: We recorded the outcomes of three oncoplastic breast surgeons who performed partial breast reconstruction with chest wall perforator flaps from 1st January 2018 to 30th June 2022 at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Data were collected on patient demographics, including age, BMI, smoking status, bra size, previous treatments, type of CWPF procedure, tumor size (measured clinically, via imaging and histologically), biopsy results, specimen weight, margins involvement, re-operation rate, surgical site infection (SSI), flap loss, flap shrinkage, hematoma, and seroma rates. Results: A total of 81 patients were included in this study, with an average age of 55.7 years and a body mass index (BMI) of 26.7 kg/m2. The bra size varied between A to FF with A (7.4%), B (28.3%), C (38.2%), D (13.6%), DD (11.1%), and FF (1.2%). 14.8% of the patients had neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). For 45 patients, LICAP (lateral intercostal artery perforator), 16 AICAP (anterior intercostal artery perforator), 13 MICAP (medial intercostal artery perforator), and for seven patients, LTAP (lateral thoracic artery perforator) flaps were used. The average tumor was measured at 15.75 mm clinically, 19.1 mm via imaging, and 19.6 mm histologically. Biopsy showed that 16% of the tumors were ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and 84% were invasive. 16% of patients had involved margins, and re-excision was required in 10 patients, and completion mastectomy was performed in 2 patients. A thirty-day SSI rate was 6.2%, with flap-related complications, including flap loss and shrinkage, at 3.7% and 4.9%, respectively. In addition, 3.7% had a hematoma, and 17.3% had other complications. Conclusion: Partial breast reconstruction with perforator flaps is an excellent volume replacement technique in breast-conserving surgery with acceptable complications in well-selected cases.

Immunomodulatory and Antioxidativepotentials of adipose-derived Mesenchymalstem cells isolated from breast versusabdominal tissue: a comparative study

Background: Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) are considered ideal candidates for both research and cellular therapydue to ease of access, large yield, feasibility, and efficacy in preclinical and clinical studies. Unlike the subcutaneousabdominal fat depot, breast ASCs features are still not well recognized, limiting their possible therapeutic use. ASCswere found to exert immunomodulatory and antioxidative activities for maintaining homeostasis and functionality ofdiseased/damaged tissues. This study aims to investigate the immunomodulatory and antioxidative potentials of breastversus abdominal isolated ASCs to find out which anatomical site provides ASCs with better immunoregulatory andoxidative stress resistance capabilities.Methods: ASCs were isolated from abdominal and breast tissues. Gene expression analysis was conducted for a panelof immunomodulatory and antioxidative genes, as well as adipokines and proliferation genes. Flow cytometric analysisof a group of immunomodulatory surface proteins was also performed. Finally, the significantly expressed genes haveundergone protein-protein interaction and functional enrichment in silico analyses.Results: Our results revealed similar morphological and phenotypic characteristics for both breast and abdominalASCs. However, a significant elevation in the expression of two potent immunosuppressive genes, IL-10 and IDO aswell as the expression of the multifaceted immunomodulatory adipokine, visfatin, was detected in breast versusabdominal ASCs. Moreover, a significant overexpression of the antioxidative genes, GPX1, SIRT5, and STAT3 and theproliferation marker, Ki67, was also observed in breast ASCs relative to abdominal ones. In silico analysis showed thatboth of the differentially upregulated immunomodulatory and antioxidative mediators integratively involved inmultiple biological processes and pathways indicating their functional association.Conclusion: Breast ASCs possess superior immunomodulatory and antioxidative capabilities over abdominal ASCs. Ourfindings shed light on the possible therapeutic applications of breast ASCs in immune-related and oxidative stressassociateddiseases.

A new three-dimensional elastography using phase based shifted Fourier transform

Elastography is an imaging technique with the ability to determine low quantities of some of the mechanical properties of tissues.The aim of our research is to design a new 3D algorithm using the Shifted Fourier Transform(SFT)to perform a quasi-static elastography.Our innovative idea is implementation of a 3D convolution instead of using three 2D convulsions.At first,we collected the raw data from Abaqus engineering software in the form of breast tissue with a coefficient of elasticity of healthy tissue and tumor tissue with a coefficient of elasticity of tumor tissue.The primary raw data consists of a number of points with x,y and z specified for tumor and healthy breast tissue.At this step,we simulated the displacements in directions of x,y and z at each point of the prescribed tissues for 15 mm displacement of probe in–Y direction then we collected 1831 points for tumor and 4186 points for breast before and after pressure.After applying a novel reconstruction algorithm,we convolved all images with the 3D Gabor filters to obtain phases,represented displacements of the breast and tumor images for before and after pressure.To reach this goal,we designed a Gabor filter bank based on the dimensions of the input images in different scales,directions,and deviations.Using the 3D SFT,we calculated the displacements of the breast and tumor tissues followed by 3D elastogram representation of the images.Finally,we implemented a 2D analysis of SFT in order to investigate validation of the 3D SFT.In 2D algorithm,we used three two-dimensional convulsions in XY,YZ and XZ planes.The results obtained from the small displacements marked by circles,confirmed the accuracy of the 3D SFT algorithm.These areas of interest are the tumor areas in the 2D analysis.