New Scanning Methods for 3-D Breast Ultrasound

描述（由申请人提供）： 本提案的目的是开发一种新型的3-D超声系统，用于在体内对皮肤表面附近的目标进行成像，例如乳房中的病变。典型的超声系统使用在7-13 MHz范围内操作的一维线性阵列来产生乳房的二维断层扫描。这种扫描的结果可能在很大程度上取决于用户的技能，因为他/她必须在精神上整合几个图像以获得对三维解剖结构的理解。此外，超声引导活检的成功在很大程度上取决于操作者的技能，因为针必须在单个扫描平面内完美对准。然而，能够在三维中对乳房进行体内成像的系统可以帮助缓解这些问题中的一些，并且因此显示出优于当今商业系统的改进的临床价值。使用合成孔径方法和一种新的互连方案的创新组合，一个256 × 256 10 MHz的2-D阵列将被设计，原型和制造。这个新系统将允许合成一个完全采样的2-D阵列，能够在方位角和仰角动态聚焦。为了证明概念，原型换能器将与64通道超声研究平台集成，用于收集产生直线3D体积所需的必要回波信息。将进行一系列水槽和组织体模实验，以评价分辨率、对比度和信噪比方面的成像性能。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this proposal is to develop a novel 3-D ultrasound system for in vivo imaging of targets near the skin surface such as lesions in the breast. Typical ultrasound systems use a one-dimensional linear array operating in the 7-13 MHz range to produce two-dimensional tomographic scans of the breast. The results of such a scan can depend heavily on skill of the user since he/she must mentally integrate several images to gain an understanding of the three-dimensional anatomy. In addition, the success of ultrasound-guided biopsies can largely depend on the skill of the operator since the needle must be perfectly aligned within a single scan plane. However, a system capable of in vivo imaging of the breast in three dimensions could help alleviate some of these problems and therefore show improved clinical value over today's commercial systems. Using an innovative combination of synthetic aperture methods and a novel interconnect scheme, a 256 x 256 10 MHz 2-D array will be designed, prototyped and fabricated. This new system will allow for the synthesis of a fully sampled 2-D array capable of dynamic focusing in azimuth and elevation. To demonstrate proof of concept, a prototype transducer will be integrated with a 64 channel ultrasound research platform used to gather the necessary echo information needed to produce rectilinear 3-D volumes. A series of water tank and tissue phantom experiments will be performed to evaluate imaging performance in terms of resolution, contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio.