In-vivo imaging results with ultrasound tomography: report on an ongoing study at the Karmanos Cancer Institute

Our laboratory has focused on the development of ultrasound tomography (UST) for breast imaging. To that end we have been developing and testing a clinical prototype in the Karmanos Cancer Institute's (KCI) breast center. The development of our prototype has been guided by clinical feedback from data accumulated from over 300 patients recruited over the last 4 years. Our techniques generate whole breast reflection images as well as images of the acoustic parameters of sound speed and attenuation. The combination of these images reveals major breast anatomy, including fat, parenchyma, fibrous stroma and masses. Fusion imaging, utilizing thresholding, is shown to visualize mass characterization and facilitates separation of cancer from benign masses. These results indicate that operator-independent whole-breast imaging and the detection and characterization of cancerous breast masses are feasible using acoustic tomography techniques. Analyses of the prototype images suggests that we can detect the variety of mass attributes noted by current ultrasound-BIRADS criteria, such as mass shape, acoustic mass properties and architecture of the tumor environment. These attributes help quantify current BIRADS criteria (e.g. "shadowing" or high attenuation) and provide greater possibilities for defining a unique signature of cancer. The potential for UST to detect and characterize breast masses was quantified using UST measurements of 86 masses from the most recent cohort of patients imaged with the latest version of our prototype. Our preliminary results suggest that the development of a formal predictive model, in support of larger future trials, is warranted.