Mechanical Imaging
Mechanical Imaging (MI), also called "tactile imaging", "stress imaging", or "computerized palpation", is a new modality of medical diagnostics that is based on visualizing the sense of touch. In MI, the internal structures of an organ are visualized by measuring the pattern of mechanical stresses on its surface.
internal mechanical structure
Dr. A. Sarvazyan, Chief Scientific Officer of Artann, started developing Mechanical Imaging technology in the late 80s. In 1992, he filed the first USA patent on MI. Artann has been advancing the MI technology since its inception in 1995. Till now, MI is one of the main areas of research activities of Artann. Artann scientists are the first in the world to introduce and develop MI technology for various applications, as described in numerous scientific publications and 14 issued and 8 pending patents. With the support of numerous NIH SBIR grants, Artann has developed several generations of MI devices for prostate imaging, breast cancer detection and assessment of women pelvic floor disorder.
MI closely mimics manual palpation, since the MI probe with a pressure sensor array mounted on its face acts similar to human fingers during clinical examination, slightly compressing soft tissue by the probe and detecting resulting changes in the pressure pattern. Mechanical properties of tissues, i.e. Young’s modulus and viscosity, are highly sensitive to tissue structural changes accompanying various physiological and pathological processes. A change in Young’s modulus of tissue during the development of a tumor could reach thousands of percent.
References- Sarvazyan AP, Egorov V.Mechanical imaging in medical applications. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2009;2009:1975-8.
- Sarvazyan AP: Mechanical imaging: a new technology for medical diagnostics. Int. J. Med. Inf., 1998, 49: 195-216.
- Sarvazyan AP, Skovoroda AR:
Method and apparatus for elasticity imaging.
US Patent 5,524,636 1996.
