ULTRASOUND DOPPLER/B-MODE BREAST SCANNER

THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS INTENDED TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OFDEVELOPING A COMMERICAL ULTRASOUND MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEM (NONIONIZING MODALITY) WITH A DETECTION ABILITY SIMILAR TO X-RAY MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEMS (LESIONS 5 MM OR LESS), AND BASED ON COMBINED TISSUE AND BLOOD-FLOW IMAGING. THE BLOOD-FLOW IMAGING IS SIGNIFICANT, SINCE MALIGNANT TUMORS EXHIBIT DRAMATICALLY INCREASED VASCULARITY AND BLOOD FLOW WHEN MEASURED WITH ULTRASOUND DOPPLER. THE INSTRUMENT IS INTENDED FOR BOTH SCREENING AND DIAGNOSIS. TO OVERCOME THE LIMITATIONS OF CONVENTIONAL ULTRASOUND MAMMOGRAPHY, SEVERAL NEW IMAGING CONCEPTS WILL BE EVALUATED.THE RECEIVED PULSE-ECHO ULTRASOUND RF DATA OF A FULL IMAGE WILL BE DIGITIZED TO GREATLY INCREASE THE FLEXIBILITY OF THESOFTWARE PROCESSING. THE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING WILL PRODUCE BOTH A TISSUE-STRUCTURE IMAGE AND A BLOOD-FLOW IMAGE OF THE SCANNING PLANE. THE NEGATIVE PRESSURE SENSITIVITY OF TUMOR BLOOD FLOW WILL BE INVESTIGATED SEPARATELY AS A POSSIBLE METHOD OF DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN BENIGN AND MALIGNANT LESIONS BY USE OF A SPECIAL SCANNING TANK. THIS SCANNING TANK DESIGN WILL ALSO PERMIT ITS USE WITH THE PATIENT IN A SITTING OR STANDING POSITION. FOR EVALUATION OF THE MAMMOGRAPHY SYSTEM, ULRASOUND SCANNINNG OF NORMAL VOLUNTEERS AND WOMEN WITH DIAGNOSED BREAST CANCER IS PLANNED.