Research Project
6211040
Mammography is currently the screening device for breast examination, even though its false-positive rate may be 66% or higher. Thus ultrasound imaging and biopsy must often be used for final diagnosis. However, ultrasound has the potential for improved spatial resolution can provide additional features (currently not available in mammography) to aid in cancer diagnosis such as characterization of the mechanical properties of tissue, 3-D imaging, no ionizing radiation, real-time viewing and improved patient comfort. We intend to demonstrate these advantages with a clinical prototype scanner. TechniScan will design, build and test an advanced clinical prototype ultrasound scanner which will be operator independent, have 3-D capabilities, feature the highest reflection resolution for a given element bandwidth, use multistatic excitation for maximal contrast resolution and perhaps most significantly feature 2 wavelength (0.6 mm at 5 MHz) quantitative images of speed of sound and attenuation. This clinical prototype scanner is expected to demonstrate the advantages of high resolution 3-D ultrasound reflectivity and inverse scattering images to such a high degree that TechniScan can readily develop the funding to produce commercial scanners. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: This proposal will lead to a significant advancement in noninvasive breast cancer screening with non-ionizing ultrasound. It is expected to provide a scanner with higher sensitivity (more suitable to cancer screening) and with lower false positivities (fewer biopsies) and be a strong competitor in a potential billion dollar cancer screening market.
