Masters Theses

Abstract

"Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer. Critical to reducing the impact of this disease is early detection and treatment. Currently, a clinical biopsy is the only reliable means of detecting skin cancer. A technique of identifying skin cancers using electrical impedance, which is fast, painless, non-invasive, and inexpensive, could be of great interest to the medical community.

This thesis investigates the feasibility of developing two different instruments for measuring skin impedance in vivo. In the first study a device is proposed for measuring impedance using an electrode array. To determine the required characteristics of the array, parameters of an electrical equivalent network for the skin were calculated for tumor and normal skin. These parameters were used to build a SPICE model for normal tissue and tumor. Currents typical of electrical impedance tomography were applied to the model. The resulting surface voltages were used to determine the expected variation in voltages and the resulting system requirements. Based on the SPICE simulations, a novel EIT instrument to measure skin impedance was proposed.

The second study is on the feasibility of using magnetic induction to measure skin impedance. Magnetic induction has the advantage of penetrating the insulating stratum corneum without affecting the measurements. The design of coils to induce current and to pick up voltages due to these induced currents is a major consideration in this approach. The criteria for maximizing the voltage difference in the pickup and for maximizing the contribution from potential lesions were also explored through simulation. The design of an instrument to inductively measure skin impedance is proposed"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Beetner, Daryl G.

Committee Member(s)

Stanley, R. Joe
Moss, Randy Hays, 1953-

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Computer Engineering

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Spring 2006

Pagination

xii, 100 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 96-99).

Rights

© 2006 Deepak Narayanaswamy, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Electrical impedance tomographyMagnetic inductionSkin -- Cancer -- Diagnosis

Thesis Number

T 8931

Print OCLC #

80552414

Electronic OCLC #

905981837

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