Abstract
High-frequency ultrasound (20–80 MHz) has been found to be sensitive to margin pathology from breast cancer surgery. In order to improve the resolution and sensitivity of this method, transducers are needed that have smaller piezoelectric elements than those currently in use. This study's purpose was to determine if small-element transducers (Blatek, 50 MHz, diameter <2 mm) produce similar results as those from large-element transducers (Olympus NDT, 50 MHz, 6.35-mm diameter). Pulse-echo and through-transmission measurements were performed on bovine heart tissue and 10 phantom specimens containing chopped nylon fibers and polyethylene microspheres. The density of peaks in the ultrasonic spectra of the small or mini transducers (MT) paralleled those of the large transducers (LT) in the bovine tissue, with higher peak densities associated with connective tissue and lower peak densities with muscle tissue. The MT data from the phantoms showed greater variance than the LT data, indicating that the MT were more sensitive to the heterogeneous wavefields arising from microsphere scattering. Additional in vivo testing is currently being performed on breast tumors grown in mice treated with Avastin. Small-element transducers may ultimately provide in vivo cancer detection in margins, allowing more precise excision of cancerous tissue and thus eliminating follow-up surgeries.
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