Prostate cancer surgery risks erectile problems and incontinence for the patient. An instrument for guiding surgeons to avoid nerve bundle damage and ensure complete cancer removal is desirable. We present a tactile resonance sensor made of PZT ceramics, mounted in a 3D motorized translation stage for scanning and measuring tissue stiffness for detecting cancer in human prostate. The sensor may be used during surgery for guidance, scanning the prostate surface for the presence of cancer, indicating migration of cancer cells into surrounding tissue. Ten fresh prostates, obtained from patients undergoing prostate cancer surgery, were cut into 0.5 cm thick slices. Each slice was measured for tissue stiffness at about 25 different sites and compared to histology for validation cancer prediction by stiffness. The statistical analysis was based on a total of 148 sites with non-cancer and 40 sites with cancer. Using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), the stiffness data predicted cancer with an area under the curve of 0.74, after correcting for overfitting using bootstrap validation. Mean prostate stiffness on the logarithmic scale (p=0.015) and standardized Z-scores (p=0.025) were both significant predictors of cancer. This study concludes that stiffness measured by the tactile resonance sensor is a significant predictor of prostate cancer with potential for future development towards a clinical instrument for surgical guidance.

前列腺癌手术会给患者带来勃起问题和失禁的风险。一种用于指导外科医生避免神经束损伤并确保完全切除癌症的工具是可取的。我们提出了一种由 PZT 陶瓷制成的触觉共振传感器，安装在 3D 电动平移台上，用于扫描和测量组织硬度，以检测人体前列腺中的癌症。该传感器可在手术期间用于指导，扫描前列腺表面是否存在癌症，指示癌细胞迁移到周围组织中。从接受前列腺癌手术的患者中获得的十个新鲜前列腺被切成 0.5 厘米厚的切片。测量每个切片在大约 25 个不同部位的组织硬度，并与组织学进行比较，以通过硬度来验证癌症预测。统计分析基于总共 148 个非癌症部位和 40 个癌症部位。使用广义线性混合模型 (GLMM)，刚度数据预测癌症的曲线下面积为 0.74，在使用引导验证校正过拟合后。对数尺度的平均前列腺硬度 (p=0.015) 和标准化 Z 分数 (p=0.025) 都是癌症的重要预测指标。这项研究得出的结论是，触觉共振传感器测量的刚度是前列腺癌的重要预测指标，具有未来发展为外科手术指导临床仪器的潜力。在使用引导验证校正过拟合之后。对数尺度的平均前列腺硬度 (p=0.015) 和标准化 Z 分数 (p=0.025) 都是癌症的重要预测指标。这项研究得出的结论是，触觉共振传感器测量的刚度是前列腺癌的重要预测指标，具有未来发展为外科手术指导临床仪器的潜力。在使用引导验证校正过拟合之后。对数尺度的平均前列腺硬度 (p=0.015) 和标准化 Z 分数 (p=0.025) 都是癌症的重要预测指标。这项研究得出的结论是，触觉共振传感器测量的刚度是前列腺癌的重要预测指标，具有未来发展为外科手术指导临床仪器的潜力。