A coupling, stabilizing, and shaping strategy for breast ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) with a ring array...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Radiology

Background:

• Breast ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) is a developing clinical imaging technique.
• Traditional USCT faces challenges including prolonged scan times, motion artifacts due to breast instability, and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from non-normal ultrasound incidence.
• Current methods require extensive water degassing, heating, filling, draining, and cleaning, reducing patient throughput.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel coupling, stabilizing, and shaping strategy for clinical USCT.
• To address the limitations of traditional USCT by improving breast stabilization and ultrasound signal quality.
• To streamline the USCT scanning process for enhanced clinical efficiency and diagnostic accuracy.

Main Methods:

• A solid gel coupling agent (SGCA) was employed for acoustic coupling.
• A set of disposable SGCA moldings was designed to stabilize and shape the breast into simplified, standardized models.
• Preparation time using disposable moldings was reduced to under 1 minute.

Main Results:

• Shaped breasts exhibited a near-round coronal plane and limited skin slopes in sagittal and transverse planes.
• Breast subcutaneous tissue showed improved contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and better distinguishability in reflection images.
• Reflection signal amplitude of subcutaneous tissue increased 1.5-fold, and SNR of transmission signals was higher post-shaping.

Conclusions:

• The SGCA and molding strategy effectively couples, stabilizes, and shapes the breast for USCT.
• This approach significantly enhances image quality (CNR and SNR) and reduces motion artifacts.
• The method facilitates a standardized scanning process, improving lesion diagnosis and localization in breast imaging.