Small calcification detection using ultrasonography for breast cancer screening

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25870345
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering; Medical systems
• Research Institution: Tohoku University (2014); Kyoto University (2013)
• Principal Investigator: TAKI Hirofumi 東北大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (40467460)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 医用画像 / 医用超音波システム / 乳がん / 乳がん検診

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Mammography detects small calcifications that accompany breast cancer; however, it is not effective in young women with rich mammary glands. In this study, we propose an imaging method based on frequency domain interferometry (FDI) to improve the performance of US in depicting small calcifications. The proposed method selectively depicts small calcifications, because it suppresses the contribution of undesired echoes when their waveforms differ from the waveform of a small calcification echo. We applied the method to the raw data obtained with a calcification phantom and a commercial US device (7.5 MHz linear array). The results show that the proposed FDI imaging method has the potential to depict small calcifications of 0.2 mm in diameter that are difficult to distinguish in the conventional B-mode images. Findings from this study indicate that the FDI imaging method has high potential in improving the performance of US in the depiction of small calcifications.

Free Research Field

複合領域