Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory and Department of Science & Technology Studies, University College London.

Optical imaging project at UCL

This newsletter is being sent to you as a participant in the project to test a new method of making images of the breast using beams of light.   This project, you will remember, is intended to test-run the novel equipment designed in the Medical Physics Department at University College London, to see if it can produce images that will be useful for diagnosing breast cancer or helping in the management of other conditions of the breast.   The part played by you as a volunteer has been, and is, absolutely crucial.   We therefore asked everyone who volunteered for an experimental breast scan if they would be interested in having feedback on the progress of the project, to which they had contributed, and so far everyone has said yes!  So here is an update on what is going on.

PROGRESS OF THE RESEARCH

On the Move

The team at the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory (BORL), who are part of the UCL Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering moved into their new premises in January 2005, and HRH Princess Anne, Chancellor of the University of London, attended the official opening of the Malet Place Engineering Building on 26th October 2005. 

Funding

We are delighted to be able to let you know that both parts of the ‘Breast Imaging’ project have received additional funding for a further 3 years. The BORL team has been funded by Cancer Research UK (the biggest cancer charity in the UK) to scan up to 100 patient-volunteers, and the ‘volunteer feedback’ part of the project has received similar funding from the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council) which will enable us continue our collaboration with the BORL team - to which you all made such a valuable contribution – and we hope to interview a further 70 patient-volunteers over the next two years.

Preliminary feedback from the second phase scans

The most significant difference in the second phase of the project is the re-designed patient interface (mentioned in our previous newsletter).  As a result of the first series of trials, and in response to your comments, we are now using the new interface (see below) which consists of a padded table which supports a cup, into which the volunteer places her breast. The cup is filled with a harmless milk-like coupling liquid called intralipid (normally used as an intravenous nutrient). 

This new scanning bed represents a major change from the previous system and incorporates a number of technical improvements as well as being potentially more comfortable for the patient.  The use of the cup with the coupling liquid offers many benefits: i) it fits breasts of any shape; ii) it allows patients to lie down rather than lean against a frame; iii) it makes images easier to reconstruct, and provides additional information; iv) it avoids the necessity to make a separate reference measurement; vi) patients no longer need to wear protective goggles; vii) light leakage has been eradicated (because the coupling liquid completely fills any gap between the breast and the sides of the cup).

Based on the feedback from the first 10 patients scanned using the new system, the scanning bed appears to have made some improvements to patient comfort with the majority of volunteers stating that they have found the scan quite relaxing – in fact, several of them have fallen asleep while it was being carried out! However, a small number of volunteers have reported minor discomforts associated with a number of factors: there is no depression to accommodate the second breast which some women found slightly uncomfortable; although a pillow is provided to rest their heads, some women have suggested that this slightly raised position is a little awkward;
and some volunteers have also commented on the gradual cooling of the liquid in the bowl as the scan progresses. With regard to the liquid, since these scans were carried out, the BORL team are now able to maintain the coupling liquid at a constant comfortable temperature throughout the scan, which they had not been able to do before for technical/safety reasons.

PEOPLE: COMINGS AND GOINGS

Dr Victoria Armstrong joined us in October 2005 having completed her PhD at the Institute of Education, University of London. Her research interests include technology and feminist theories of the body, and she will be closely involved in interviewing the patient-volunteers in this phase of the project.

For those of you who are internet users, an easy way to keep up with developments is to go to UCL web pages.   We have our own project website which reports on the volunteers project which can be found at: www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~ucrhnom/index.htm or follow the link from www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/staff/morris/index.htm.  At www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/borl/index.html you will find the BORL website, while www.medphys.ucl.ac.uk/research/borl/research/monstir/breast.htm takes you straight to the Breast Imaging page, with some really nice images.   

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

In 2005, Norma (Morris) and Brian (Balmer) contributed a discussion paper to a workshop in Amsterdam which examined how volunteers understand their participation in research experiments, and how they view their role in this setting.  This theme was further developed in an article entitled ‘Volunteer human subjects’ understandings of their participation in a biomedical research experiment’ soon to be published in the journal Social Science and Medicine. You can find the text of this article on the project web-page (see above).  If anyone would like a paper copy, just let us know.

Norma and Brian also gave a talk at the London School of Economics on 7th December 2005 entitled ‘A voice for volunteer research subjects? Public engagement in the development of a new health technology’, which was part of a seminar series called the ‘Public Understanding of Science’, which was very well received.

In addition, The BORL team have recently published a paper that summarises the results of the scans from the first phase of tests with the previous system and is entitled ‘Optical tomography of the breast using a multi-channel time-resolved imager’ and appears in the journal called Physics in Medicine and Biology.  You can read the abstract at http://www.iop/org/EJ/abstract/0031-9155/50/11/005. A full copy of this paper and others published by the group is available from the BORL website.

Of course, all images, quotations, and other information used in publications and presentations are ALWAYS anonymous. We NEVER use names (only pseudonyms), initials, or any other means of identifying any of our volunteers!

FEEDBACK

If you have any comments or questions about anything in this newsletter or about matters we have failed to mention – or if you might be interested in volunteering for further scans – we should be very pleased to hear from you.  Contact details are given below:

Contact us:
Dr Victoria Armstrong (v.armstrong@ucl.ac.uk) 
or Dr Norma Morris (norma.morris@ucl.ac.uk)
Department of Science & Technology Studies
University College London 
Gower Street                        
London WC1E 6BT, UK
Tel (0)20 7679 3703
Fax (0)20 7916 2425

	Louise Enfield (lenfield@medphys.ucl.ac.uk]
Department of Medical Physics
University College London 
Gower Street                        
London WC1E 6BT, UK
Tel (0)20 7679 0203
Fax (0)20 7679 0255

December 2005