Quantitative estimation of Young modulus in breast tumor surrounded by normal soft tissue by using Finite Element Method (FEM)

Background and aim: The malignant breast tumors are usually situated in the vicinity of normal soft tissue. In this form, the biomechanical properties of the tissue at each desired depth of the tissue can be determined by using the Finite Element Method (FEM).Materials and method: Firstly, we determined a natural breast tissue with a cylindrical geometry and certain dimensions in Abaqus software. Inside the tissue, a cylindrical malignant breast tumor was designed with the thickness and diameter values equal to one-half the size of normal tissue. Then, the physical properties of the material, including the density of the material and the elasticity of each tissue, were applied. The examinations were analyzed for five different Poisson coefficients including ۰.۱, ۰.۲, ۰.۳, ۰.۴ and ۰.۴۹۹. In each case, the stress was determined on the tissue. The total elasticity was defined as the relationship between applied stress and related strain and the scaling factor was determined. Moreover, the stress of the cancerous tissue was determined and the distribution of forces was obtained for each of the simulations. It should be noted that each simulation was performed for a certain amount of mesh dimensions to ensure network independence.Results: The results of each simulation were performed for five different Poisson coefficients. The outcome showed a considerable decrease in total elasticity (from ۶۶۱.۸۱ kPa to ۲۱۹.۵۵ kPa) by an increase in the Poisson coefficient. But, the scaling factor was increased by increasing the Poisson coefficient.Conclusion: Finite element analysis can be considered as a reliable tool for rationally estimating the biomechanical properties of cancerous breast tissues located inside of normal soft tissue.

کلیدواژه ها:

Elasticity ، Breast ، Tumor ، Finite Element Method ، Force ، Abaqus Software