Thermography-Based Estimation of Tumor Parameters in Breast Tissue Using Phantom Models

Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Andy Richter

College

College of Arts & Sciences (CAS)

Discipline(s)

Physics

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-30-2026

Abstract

This research proposes the use of infrared thermography and computational modeling to evaluate the detectability of breast cancer tumors as a screening tool for breast cancer. Building upon the experimental framework developed by Umadevi et al., this study will utilize phantom tissue models composed of agar to simulate homogeneous structures of human breast tissue. A 100 ohm resistor with various voltage inputs embedded in the phantom tissue will act as a heat source and will mimic a tumor. Analysis will be performed by obtaining surface temperature data using the FLIR C5 infrared camera, then detectability will be determined by features visible in the thermograms. The size of the phantom tumor will be determined by the power emitted from the resistor which is calculated from measured surface temperature. Detectability is compared to that of mammograms to assess the feasibility and accuracy of non-invasive tumor characterization using thermal imaging, with the long-term goal of supporting non-invasive, non-ionizing early breast cancer detection and diagnosis.

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