There are two major imaging modalities used to screen for breast cancer, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mammography. Accurate matching between MR images and mammograms or between CC and MLO mammograms (mammograms taken from different angles) of the location of potential tumours is essential for early diagnosis, but matching is heavily hindered by the fact that the breast shape varies hugely between the modalities, due to both the different positions of the patient between the modalities and the fact that the breast is compressed during mammography.
In the University of Oxford, together with collaborators in the University of Auckland, we are working on developing a 3D, patient-specific, anatomically accurate, finite element model of the breast using MR images, and deforming it in a physically realistic manner to simulate the breast during mammography or surgery, as an aid for both radiologists and surgeons.