ACOUSTOGRAPHIC BREAST IMAGING

THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP ACOUSTOGRAPHY, A NEW IMAGING METHOD, TO AID IN THE DETECTIONAND CHARACTERIZATION OF BREAST CANCER. ACOUSTOGRAPHY USES ULTRASOUND TO PRODUCE FULL-FIELD PROJECTION IMAGES OF THE BREAST IN A MANNER THAT IS ANALOGOUS TO X-RAY MAMMOGRAPHY. AN "ACOUSTO-OPTICAL" LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, ANALOGOUS TO A FLUOROSCOPIC SCREEN, IS USED TO VISUALIZE AND RECORD THE ULTRASONIC IMAGE OF THE ENTIRE BREAST. THE SPECIFIC AIM IN PHASE I WILL BE TO USE BREAST PHANTOMS TO EVALUATE ACOUSTOGRAPHY. TISSUE-MIMICKING MATERIALS CURRENTLY USED FOR PRODUCING PHANTOMS TO EVALUATE CONVENTIONAL ULTRASONOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE BREAST PHANTOMS SUITABLE FOR ACOUSTOGRAPHIC STUDIES. COMMERCIALLY, ACOUSTOGRAPHY OFFERS PHYSICIANS A MUCH MORE PRACTICAL WAY OF GENERATING ULTRASONIC IMAGES BECAUSE THE ENTIRE BREAST CAN BE IMAGED WITH ONLY ONE OR TWO IMAGES, AND THE IMAGE FORMAT ALLOWS DIRECT SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON OF THE ULTRASONIC AND X-RAY BREAST IMAGES. COMPARED TO GENERAL-PURPOSE SCANNERS, ACOUSTOGRAPHY IS MORE REPEATABLE BECAUSE THE PROCEDURE CAN BE STANDARDIZED SIMILARLY TO AN X-RAY MAMMOGRAPHY EXAMINATION. COMPARED TO DEDICATED SCANNERS, ACOUSTOGRAPHY IS COST EFFECTIVE AND OFFERS HIGH PATIENT THROUGHPUT; THE ENTIRE BREAST INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE IN SECONDS ON ONE OR TWO IMAGES, ASOPPOSED TO 100 TO 150 IMAGES IN DEDICATED SCANNERS.