Quantitative Ultrasonic Imaging of the Breast

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的合作伙伴关系的长期目标是发展、统一、完善和实施一种新的方法，通过组织微观结构的量化来定量超声（QUS）成像生物组织和乳腺肿瘤。通俗地说，如果这项研究成功，许多乳房异常和病变就可以在不需要活检的情况下被诊断出来。我们合作的总体假设是一组QUS参数可以显著改善乳腺病变的鉴别/分类。需要利用的主要QUS参数包括衰减、散射体大小、散射体数密度和声浓度（散射体数密度乘以它们的阻抗变化）。在这个项目的前5年，我们的目标是通过模拟、幻影、体外和体内动物模型实验的开发、测试和验证，以及初步的人体受试者测试，为一种新的（可能是革命性的，但肯定是进化的）诊断成像能力奠定基础。在接下来的5年里，我们将把分析扩展到普通乳房病变之外，开始II期临床试验，并致力于创建自动化工具，以协助诊断乳房异常。合作伙伴包括伊利诺伊大学加州分校的工程师、声学物理学家、统计学家和兽医病理学家，以及华盛顿大学的物理学家、工程师、病理学家和放射科医生。PI是William D. O'Brien, Jr. (UIUC)，作为副PI的是Timothy J. Hall （UW）。QUS成像的使用在医学上具有重要意义，因为它提供了一种潜在的实时和无创的方法来区分/分类肿瘤类型并跟踪它们对治疗的反应。为此，提出了5个具体目标，即1)将QUS算法与体内模拟、模型和动物肿瘤模型统一起来；2)将声学微结构测量与解剖散射源联系起来；3)监测体内动物模型中肿瘤生长时QUS参数的变化；4)比较人类受试者的肿瘤与动物模型的肿瘤；5)开展主要的外展活动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of the proposed partnership is to develop, unify, refine and implement a new approach to quantitative ultrasound (QUS) imaging of biological tissues and mammary tumors by the quantification of tissue microstructure. In lay terms, if the research is successful, many breast abnormalities and lesions can be diagnosed without the need for a biopsy. The overall hypothesis of our partnership is that a set of QUS parameters can significantly improve breast lesion differentiation/classification. The primary QUS parameters to be exploited include attenuation, scatterer size, scatterer number density, and acoustic concentration (scatterer number density times their impedance change). Our goal in the first 5 years of this project is to lay the foundation for a new (possibly revolutionary but definitely evolutionary) diagnostic imaging capability through development, testing, and verification with simulations, phantoms, and in vitro and in vivo animal model experiments, as well as preliminary human subjecting testing. In the second 5 years we will extend the analysis beyond common breast lesions, begin Phase II clinical trials and work towards the creation of automated tools to assist in the diagnosis of breast abnormalities. The partnership is between engineers, acoustic physicists, statisticians and veterinary pathologists at UIUC and physicists, engineers, pathologists and radiologists at UW. The PI is William D. O'Brien, Jr. (UIUC), and functioning as the co-Pi is Timothy J. Hall (UW). Use of QUS imaging is medically significant because it offers a potentially real-time and noninvasive means of differentiation/classification tumor types and tracking their response to therapy. To this end, 5 specific aims are proposed, viz., 1) unify QUS algorithms with simulations, phantoms and animal tumor models in vivo, 2) associate acoustic microstructural measurements with anatomical scattering sources, 3) monitor the changes in QUS parameters with tumor growth in in vivo animal models, 4) compare tumors in human subjects with those in animal models, and 5) develop a major outreach activity.