Subharmonic imaging (SHI) is a new nonlinear ultrasound contrast imaging mode developed by our group, which has shown promise for diagnosing breast lesions in a prospective, pilot study. Hence, the fundamental hypothesis of this project is that the angiogenesis of breast lesions can be visualized and quantified noninvasively by analyzing the vascular morphology using contrast enhanced three-dimensional (3D) grayscale SHI and that this information will improve the differentiation between benign and malignant breast lesions. A Logiq 9 ultrasound scanner (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI) will be modified to perform 3D SHI and optimized for use with the ultrasound contrast microbubble agent Definity (Bristol-Myers Squibb Imaging, N Billerica, MA). Moreover, the feasibility of quantifying blood flow through SHI perfusion estimation and deriving quantitative fractal parameters describing vascular morphology via cumulative maximum intensity (CMI) SHI have been established by our group. These concepts will be expanded to 3D acquisitions and verified in vivo. The subsequent 3 years will be devoted to establish if the differentiation of benign and malignant breast masses detected by x-ray mammography can be improved upon by baseline ultrasound (grayscale and power Doppler), grayscale pulse inversion harmonic imaging or grayscale 3D SHI (as well as SHI with CMI-SHI added). This study will be conducted jointly at Thomas Jefferson University and at the University of California, San Diego. SHI data from 450 patients with breast masses, confirmed by mammography, will be acquired in this prospective, clinical trial. ROC analysis will be performed to assess whether 3D SHI can improve the sensitivity and specificity to distinguish between benign and malignant breast disease compared to mammography as well as the other 3 ultrasound modes. Furthermore, logistical regression techniques will be used to combine the 4 ultrasound imaging modes and mammography allowing all possible combinations to be compared to one another. Finally, in a subset of 85 patients (acquired at Thomas Jefferson University) the vascular morphology of the breast lesions, as established by pathology, will be compared to 3D SHI estimates of tumor neovascularity. In conclusion, this study aims to develop a novel ultrasound based method (i.e., 3D SHI) for noninvasive breast imaging and improved characterization of breast lesions in vivo.

Public Health Relevance

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and the accurate characterization of breast masses as benign or malignant is therefore essential. However, 80 % of all breast biopsies performed today are benign and these unnecessary procedures markedly increase healthcare costs, while causing immense anxiety to the women undergoing them. This project will develop a new ultrasound imaging technique for improved diagnoses of breast masses. The long-term benefits of this study will be the development of a minimally-invasive, safe, diagnostic imaging method to accurately, re-classify breast lesions from the """"""""suspicious"""""""" category to """"""""probably benign,"""""""" thus avoiding unnecessary biopsies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA140338-03
Application #
8221000
Study Section
Medical Imaging Study Section (MEDI)
Program Officer
Baker, Houston
Project Start
2010-05-01
Project End
2015-02-28
Budget Start
2012-03-01
Budget End
2013-02-28
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$111,656
Indirect Cost
$22,094
Name
Thomas Jefferson University
Department
Radiation-Diagnostic/Oncology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
053284659
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19107
Nam, Kibo; Eisenbrey, John R; Stanczak, Maria et al. (2017) Monitoring Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer by Using Three-dimensional Subharmonic Aided Pressure Estimation and Imaging with US Contrast Agents: Preliminary Experience. Radiology 285:53-62
Sridharan, Anush; Eisenbrey, John R; Machado, Priscilla et al. (2015) Quantitative analysis of vascular heterogeneity in breast lesions using contrast-enhanced 3-D harmonic and subharmonic ultrasound imaging. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control 62:502-10
Eisenbrey, John R; Sridharan, Anush; Liu, Ji-Bin et al. (2015) Recent Experiences and Advances in Contrast-Enhanced Subharmonic Ultrasound. Biomed Res Int 2015:640397
Sridharan, Anush; Eisenbrey, John R; Liu, Ji-Bin et al. (2013) Perfusion estimation using contrast-enhanced 3-dimensional subharmonic ultrasound imaging: an in vivo study. Invest Radiol 48:654-60
Sridharan, Anush; Eisenbrey, John R; Machado, Priscilla et al. (2013) Delineation of atherosclerotic plaque using subharmonic imaging filtering techniques and a commercial intravascular ultrasound system. Ultrason Imaging 35:30-44
Eisenbrey, John R; Sridharan, Anush; Machado, Priscilla et al. (2012) Three-dimensional subharmonic ultrasound imaging in vitro and in vivo. Acad Radiol 19:732-9
Eisenbrey, John R; Sridharan, Anush; deMuinck, Ebo D et al. (2012) Parametric subharmonic imaging using a commercial intravascular ultrasound scanner: an in vivo feasibility study. J Ultrasound Med 31:361-71
Eisenbrey, J R; Dave, J K; Halldorsdottir, V G et al. (2011) Simultaneous grayscale and subharmonic ultrasound imaging on a modified commercial scanner. Ultrasonics 51:890-7
Eisenbrey, John R; Joshi, Neha; Dave, Jaydev K et al. (2011) Assessing algorithms for defining vascular architecture in subharmonic images of breast lesions. Phys Med Biol 56:919-30
Eisenbrey, John R; Dave, Jaydev K; Merton, Daniel A et al. (2011) Parametric imaging using subharmonic signals from ultrasound contrast agents in patients with breast lesions. J Ultrasound Med 30:85-92