ArticleArchives of gynecology and obstetrics2025
Evaluation and feasibility of diagnostic heatflow imaging in patients with palpable breast lesions: a pilot study.
Article in Archives of gynecology and obstetrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with early detection significantly improving outcomes. Heat flow imaging (HFI) is a non-invasive dynamic thermography method with prior tissue cooling. It has shown its potential as an additional diagnostic tool. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of diagnostic HFI in patients with palpable breast lesions during outpatient visits.
methodsThe patients presenting with palpable breast lesions at the Erlangen University Hospital were recruited between November 2023 and April 2024. Heat flow imaging was performed in addition to sonographic and mammographic imaging in routine care. Additionally, the patients completed a pain questionnaire to evaluate the comfort of the procedure. We used a two-phase study design. During the first phase, the imaging procedure was established and standardized. In the second phase, imaging footage was compared with conventional mammography, sonography, and histological findings.
resultsThirty-nine patients were recruited and 18 patients underwent final evaluation. Heat flow imaging successfully detected 7 out of 11 palpable carcinomas. Factors contributing to missed lesions and impairing image quality were inadequate cooling or improper camera positioning. The mean pain score reported during the procedure was 0.7 on a visual analog scale from 0 to 10, indicating minimal discomfort.
conclusionsHeat flow imaging is a feasible imaging method that may serve as a supplementary diagnostic tool for breast cancer detection in patients with palpable breast lesions. However, it is still considered an experimental method and its use should be limited in the context of clinical trials. Further research involving larger patient groups is required to validate these preliminary findings and to optimize image acquisition protocols.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.