Biodegradable post biopsy breast marker

Abstract

Breast biopsy involves needle extraction of small suspicious lesion breast tissue for diagnosis. A breast marker is inserted subsequently to mark the biopsy site for future targeting and referencing due to the transition of the surrounding tissue after tissue removal and remodeling or healing of tissue around the biopsy site. Currently, metallic markers are available for post breast biopsy and they are stayed permanent should the biopsy test diagnosed as benign.

In this study, biodegradable breast marker was proposed as an alternative marker. Prototypes were fabricated with varying composition of Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) (in molar ratio 50:50, 75:25 and 82:18) to impart timeframe of degradation in 3, 6 and 9 months and with embedded radiopaque fillers to enhance radiopacity under X-Ray imaging. In vitro degradation of these prototypes was evaluated in term of mass loss and molecular weight. X-ray images on these prototypes throughout the degradation period demonstrated the potential use of formulations for 50:50 and 75:25 up to 1 month while formulation 82:18 had shown consistent visibility up to 9 months. In vivo feasibility study was performed on rabbit breast model, demonstrated good visibility in the initial stage of deployment.