前期通过超短脉冲(纳秒)微波技术的研发，突破传统微秒级微波源对热声效率和成像分辨率的技术限制(Phys.Rev. Lett. 109: 218101, 2012)，建立了组织深层无损高分辨的微波热声成像系统；与此同时，我们发现肿瘤组织中有显著代谢差异的极性分子（如氨基酸、蛋白质等）具有强的微波吸收及热声效应。由于正常乳腺组织中的脂质（基本不吸收微波）占比很重，当发生乳腺肿瘤变异时，这些极性分子可作为肿瘤特异性的高对比度分子探针，微波热声极性分子成像有望实现乳腺肿瘤分子水平上的早期检测。项目将研究微波-光声多参数早期乳腺肿瘤特异性分子成像新技术，整合乳腺肿瘤特征分子（微波热声）、新生化血管/血氧功能（光声）和边界形态学（超声）的多模态影像信息，实现从非特异性物理显像向特异性分子成像的转变，从低分辨形态学检测向多参数精准诊断的转变，以达到乳腺癌早期精准诊断的目的。

Early, through the research and development of ultrashort pulse microwave technology, we realized a breakthrough of the thermoacoustic efficiency and imaging resolution due to the restriction of the microsecond level microwave (Phys. Rev. Lett. 109: 218101, 2012), and established a noninvasive microwave thermoacoustic imaging system with high resolution and high imaging depth. Meanwhile, we found that polar molecules (such as amino acids, proteins, etc.), which have significant metabolic differences in the tumor tissue, have strong microwave absorption and thermoacoustic effect. Also, as a result of normal lipid-dominant breast tissue (basically have not microwave absorption) have a large proportion, when breast cancer mutation, these polar molecules can be taken as a tumor specific molecular probes with high contrast; and therefore, microwave induced thermoacoustic molecular imaging is expected to achieve early detection of breast cancer at the molecular level. This project will study the new technology of microwave-photoacoustic multi parameters early breast tumor specific molecular imaging, integrated with new biochemical blood vessels/oxygen functional information (photoacoustic imaging) and morphological information (ultrasound imaging), from nonspecific physical imaging to the specific molecular imaging, from low resolution morphological detection to the multi-parameter accurate diagnosis, to achieve the accurate diagnosis of early breast cancer.