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Abstract

A method for selectively heating cancerous conditions of the breast including invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive glandular lobular carcinoma, and pre-cancerous conditions of the breast including ductal carcinoma in-situ, lobular carcinoma in-situ, and intraductal hyperplasia, as well as benign lesions (any localized pathological change in the breast tissue) such as fibroadenomas and cysts by irradiation of the breast tissue with adaptive phased array focused microwave energy is introduced. Microwave energy provides preferential heating of high-water content breast tissues such as carcinomas, fibroadenomas, and cysts compared to the surrounding lower-water content normal breast tissues. To focus the microwave energy in the breast, the patient's breast can be compressed and a single electric-field probe, inserted in the central portion of the breast, or two noninvasive electric-field probes on opposite sides of the breast skin, can be used to measure a feedback signal to adjust the microwave phase delivered to waveguide applicators on opposite sides of the compressed breast tissue. The initial microwave power delivered to the microwave applicators is set to a desired value that is known to produce a desired increase in temperature in breast tumors. Temperature feedback sensors are used to measure skin temperatures during treatment to adjust the microwave power delivered to the waveguide applicators to avoid overheating the skin. The microwave energy delivered to the waveguide applicators is monitored in real time during treatment, and the treatment is completed when a desired total microwave energy dose has been administered. By heating and destroying the breast lesion sufficiently, lesions can be reduced in size and surrounding normal breast tissues are spared so that surgical mastectomy can be replaced with surgical lumpectomy or the lesions can be completely destroyed so that surgical mastectomy or lumpectomy is avoided.

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