A Multisensor Tactile Imaging System for Breast Cancer Detection: Feasibility Assessment on MRI-Derived Patient-Specific Phantom

Breast palpation is a widely accepted preliminary exam for early tumor detection. However, it carries substantial risk of incorrect assessment, due to its operator-dependent nature. Tactile imaging (TI) techniques has recently emerged as a promising alternative, capable of mapping the spatial distribution of force (F) and identifying localized variations in tissue stiffness associated with potential abnormalities. This study presents a novel multi-sensor tactile imaging system based on fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGs) for breast cancer detection. A 3x3 sensing matrix was designed and integrated within a compact and ergonomic 3D-printed probe, enabling high spatial resolution, high F sensitivity, and simultaneous multi-point measurements. The system was tested on a patient-specific breast phantom derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, under both controlled loading and examiner-driven palpation scenarios. In both testing conditions, tumor-containing areas exhibited higher median F and reduced F variability compared to tumor-free areas. Tactile images extracted from the recorded F signals at varying indentation depths revealed distinguishable F distributions in the tumor areas across both testing scenarios. The results demonstrated the system’s ability to measure F distributions at contact areas, highlighting its potential for tumor identification. These promising findings lay the foundation for further optimizations toward applications in real-world clinical scenarios.