Research Project
2106181
The primary objectives of this proposal are twofold. The first is to investigate the feasibility of implementing certain critical areas of the hardware of an ultrasound scanner, which was developed for use with inverse scattering theory, as VLSI components. The second is to develop calibration mechanisms for ultrasound inverse scattering tomography of the female breast. Both of these objectives will accelerate the process of moving our inverse scattering imaging algorithms, now operating on slower mechanical laboratory scanners, onto an electronic scanning platform that is more suitable for the clinical environment. These objectives shall be accomplished by upgrading an existing prototype ultrasound scanner which was initially developed to aid our research into inverse scattering tomography as applied to breast cancer imaging. This scanner, the TechniScan Ultrasound Breast Scanner (TUBS), has supplied TechniScan with a deeper understanding of some of the technological difficulties which need to be overcome for inverse scattering to work in a clinical environment. In order for TechniScan to proceed with this development, we believe that it is necessary to retrofit the TUBS with state-of-the-art technology. This shall include addition of a higher resolution analog-to-digital converter and a temperature monitor.
