Semi-quantitating stiffness of breast solid lesions in ultrasonic elastography

Area of Science:

• Medical imaging
• Diagnostic ultrasound
• Biomedical engineering

Background:

• Ultrasonic elastography is a valuable tool for breast lesion assessment.
• Current methods for evaluating breast lesion stiffness may benefit from quantitative enhancements.
• Strain ratio measurement offers a potential method for semi-quantifying tissue stiffness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of strain ratio measurement in semi-quantitatively evaluating breast lesion stiffness.
• To determine if strain ratio can differentiate between benign and malignant breast lesions.
• To explore the utility of strain ratio as a supplementary diagnostic method in breast imaging.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 148 patients with 254 solid breast lesions (183 benign, 71 malignant) was conducted.
• Ultrasonic elastography was used to obtain strain images, and strain ratio was calculated using ultrasound machine software.
• Strain indexes were computed using breast tissue at the same depth and superior fat tissue as references, with comparisons made between benign and malignant lesions.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed in strain indexes of breast lesions compared to reference breast tissues (P = 0.000 for same depth, P = 0.003 for different depths).
• Strain indexes clearly distinguished between benign (range, 0.62-11.07) and malignant (range, 3.12-39.28) solid lesions when compared to the same depth of breast tissue (P = 0.000).

Conclusions:

• Strain ratio measurement provides a reliable method for semi-quantifying breast lesion stiffness using same-depth breast tissue as a reference.
• This technique shows promise as an additional diagnostic approach to the existing 5-point scoring system in ultrasonic elastography for breast lesions.