Automated whole-breast ultrasound (AWBU) is a
medical imaging technique used in radiology to obtain volumetric
ultrasound
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies ...
data of the entire
breast
The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues.
In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...
.
How it works
Similarly to the
3D ultrasound
3D ultrasound is a medical ultrasound technique, often used in fetal, cardiac, trans-rectal and intra-vascular applications. 3D ultrasound refers specifically to the volume rendering of ultrasound data. When involving a series of 3D volumes collec ...
technique used for pregnant women, AWBU allows volumetric image data to be obtained from ultrasound sonography.
With automated whole-breast ultrasound, the ultrasound transducer is guided over the breast in an automatic manner. The position and speed of the transducer is regulated automatically, whereas the angle of incidence and the amount of pressure applied is set by the human operator. The entire breast is scanned in an automated manner, and the procedure yields volumetric image data of the breast.
The resulting image data can be read at any convenient time by the radiologist, who is freed from performing the scan.
This allows selected scan planes to be visualized, and also allows the data to be displayed as a volumetric image.
Applications
AWBU has been proposed as an additional
cancer screening
Cancer screening aims to detect cancer before symptoms appear. This may involve blood tests, urine tests, DNA tests, other tests, or medical imaging. The benefits of screening in terms of cancer prevention, early detection and subsequent treatment ...
modality, in particular for women with
dense breasts.
Studies have consistently shown an increased detection of breast cancer by supplementary ultrasound screening, compared to mammography alone.
Comparison to hand-held ultrasound
AWBU offers advantages in terms of speed and standardization of ultrasound imaging, rendering the result largely independent of the skill of the operator. Furthermore, the position of any abnormality can be determined relative to the position of the nipple, allowing the same abnormality to be retrieved with precision in follow-up diagnostic procedures and also in
biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiologist. The process involves extraction of sample cells or tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a dise ...
interventions.
However, a number of AWBU techniques employ ultrasound transducers of lower frequency than hand-held ultrasound, resulting in lower spatial and contrast resolution. A disadvantage of AWBU imaging is that it captures static tissue features and does not show the dynamic images properties that can often be seen in images obtained from hand-held ultrasound devices.
Research
There have been preliminary investigations into the use of AWBU for performing ultrasound-guided biopsy. Also, algorithms for (semi-)automatic evaluation of the acquired image data are under development.
See also
*
Breast ultrasound
Breast ultrasound is the use of medical ultrasonography to perform imaging of the breast.
It can be considered either a diagnostic or a screening procedure.
It may be used either with or without a mammogram.
It may be useful in younger women, w ...
References
{{Breast procedures
Medical ultrasonography
Breast imaging