Early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer increases survival rates. A unique feature of our proposal is that reflection and transmission ultrasound modalities can be obtained in the same scanning machine and the respective images can be registered, fused and combined. We will demonstrate the following imaging modalities on a constructed laboratory scanner: l) 2-D refraction projection; 2) 2-D absorption projection 3) 2-D and 3-D reflectivity; 4) 2-D and 3-D inverse scattering; and 5) 2-D and 3-D scattering number density. We will demonstrate the improved spatial resolution obtained with phase aberration correction and larger apertures using an 8 by 8 element, 1.5-D, zone plate array incorporated into this laboratory scanner. In phase II, we will increase the size of the l.5-D array to over 1,000 elements to electronically scan one slice of multiple slices (obtained from lateral array movement) of the entire breast. In phase III, the scanner may be upgraded to provide sequential X-ray mammographic and ultrasound images, which could be registered, combined and fused using the latest visualization technology. In-place image-guided needle biopsy is particularly suited to later models.
This research has application to breast cancer detection, diagnosis and screening. The approach taken will allow ultrasound imaging,x-ray mammography and needle biopsy technologies to be combined in future scanners. The inverse scattering and phase aberration correction algorithms will have application in other ultrasound imaging areas and in environmental imaging.
