Real-Time Palpation Imaging for Improved Detection and Discrimination of Breast Abnormalities

Abstract

Abstract : The purpose of our work is to develop and test a new kind of imaging system we call imaging. We expect that palpation imaging will be a useful tool for improving the discrimination between benign and malignant breast tumors. The scope of the effort in our first year of funding was to implement a newly-developed algorithm on a commercial ultrasound imaging system and to begin testing that new imaging system. The algorithm provides images of the mechanical strain induced in tissue by pressing the ultrasound transducer against the skin surface. These images are produced at substantially real-time frames rates with normal ultrasound B-mode and strain images displayed side-by-side at eight frames per second. The algorithm is fully integrated into the commercial system and requires no system modifications. Breast exams performed on volunteers have shown that no additional fixtures are required to perform these scans; in fact the palpation imaging study is almost identical to the standard clinical breast ultrasound exam. With the moderate number of patients examined to date, we find distinct strain images for cysts, fibroadenomas, and invasive ductal carcinomas. Comparing lesion area measured in B-mode versus strain images we find complete discrimination between benign and malignant lesions.