Preliminary in Vivo Breast Vibro-acoustography Results with a Quasi-2-D Array Transducer: A Step Forward Toward Clinical Applications

Abstract

We previously investigated the application of a novel imaging modality, vibro-acoustography (VA), using an annular confocal transducer (confocal VA) integrated into a clinical prone stereotactic mammography system, to detect various breast abnormalities. To shorten the scanning time and provide improved coverage of the breast, we have evolved our imaging system by implementing VA on a clinical ultrasound scanner equipped with a “quasi-2-D” array transducer. We call this technique “quasi-2-D vibro-acoustography” (Q2-DVA). A clinical ultrasound scanner (GE Vivid 7) was modified to perform both ultrasound imaging and VA using an array transducer consisting of a matrix of 12 rows by 70 columns of ultrasound elements. The newly designed system was used to perform VA on patients with either benign or cancerous lesions. Our results indicate that benign and malignant solid breast lesions were easily detected using our newly modified VA system. It was also possible to detect microcalcifications within the breast. Our results suggest that with further development, Q2-DVA could provide high-resolution diagnostic information in the clinical setting and may be used either as a stand-alone or as a complementary tool in support of other clinical imaging modalities.