Application of Near-Field Microwave Probing in Diagnosing Dupuytren’s Disease

The aim of the investigation was to study dielectric properties of fibrously changed tissues in patients with Dupuytren’s contraction using near-field microwave probing technique.

Materials and Methods. Twelve patients with Dupuytren’s contraction treated in the in-patient department of the University Clinic of Privolzhsky Research Medical University were included in the study.

The dielectric properties of the skin and subcutaneous structures were studied in various areas of the hand including fibrous and healthy tissues. All patients were examined prior to surgical intervention. Near-field microwave probing was performed using soft- and hardware complex developed at the Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (Nizhny Novgorod) providing the opportunity to estimate dielectric permittivity of biological objects. A set of probes allowed us to test the dielectric skin characteristics at the depth of 2 to 5 mm.

Results. The investigations performed enabled us to form a microwave pattern of real part of dielectric permittivity in patients with Dupuytren’s contracture in the field of healthy and fibrously altered tissues. A sharp reduction in this parameter has been detected in the area of the pathological process as deep as 3.5 mm. In the area of healthy tissues, no specific changes in dielectric properties have been found in comparison with healthy volunteers. Fibrously altered palmar aponeurosis has also been shown to have a fairly uniform microwave structure which makes it possible to visualize its boundaries rather accurately. This is of fundamental importance for planning surgical interventions in patients with Dupuytren’s contracture.

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Маrtusevich А.К., Krasnova S.Yu., Petrov S.V., Galka А.G., Petrov М.S., Novikov А.V. Application of Near-Field Microwave Probing in Diagnosing Dupuytren’s Disease. Sovremennye tehnologii v medicine 2019; 11(4): 106, https://doi.org/10.17691/stm2019.11.4.12