Won-Mean Lee MS, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Eric D. Larson, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Mitchell M. Goodsitt PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Research collaboration, General Electric Company

Oliver D. Kripfgans, Abstract Co-Author: Research support, General Electric Company Equipment support, General Electric Company

Marilyn A. Roubidoux MD, Abstract Co-Author: Research Consultant, Delphinus Medical Technologies, Inc

Sushma Alvar PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Heang-Ping Chan PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Institutional research collaboration, General Electric Company

Paul L. Carson PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Research collaboration, General Electric Company Research collaboration, Light Age, Inc

We describe a prototype dual-sided breast ultrasound system ‘BLUCI’ that scans the compressed breast in the same orientations as clinical mammograms. We report 1) BLUCI design and performance, 2) technologist technique and gel containment apparatuses and 3) image processing techniques to segment, register, and combine BLUCI ultrasound (US) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) volumes.

Women with breast masses are imaged in two separate systems. BLUCI is a modified commercial mammography system with ultrasound-compatible fabric compression paddles. BLUCI acquires two US volumes, top-down and bottom-up, that provides greater lesion conspicuity throughout the breast as compared to single-sided US. Each frame is acquired 800 µm apart and is spliced into a single volume of 200 mm x 70 mm x 80 mm. A combined single-sided US and DBT system, or ‘CINDI’, generates co-registered single-sided US and DBT volumes. When scanning, the technologist compresses the breast in the same position for both systems and applies ultrasound coupling gel using rubber gel dams and gel-filled cloth rolls. Dual-sided US, single-sided US, and DBT volumes are registered automatically using calibrated mechanical offsets and manually by a simple translation. These two alignment methods were compared to determine whether registration offers a significant advantage over mechanical offsets to radiologists locating homologous lesions.

Preliminary results show that the registration offsets needed to align a homologous lesion between all three volumes are often large and quite variable. Registering dual-sided US and DBT volumes from two separate systems required 8.3±12.0 mm, 22.4±27.3 mm, and -7.0±8.0 mm in the anterior-posterior, transverse, and cranial-caudal axes, respectively (n = 8).

The BLUCI-CINDI workstation allows viewing of three image volumes in two modalities side-by-side with registered region-of-interest tools. Preliminary results indicate that image registration is often needed to align a homologous lesion among all three image volumes. Automated probe alignment and reader study graphical user interface are currently being developed.

We aim to refine and evaluate a dual-sided breast ultrasound system that can provide an additional imaging modality for radiologists as an adjunct clinical mammography or DBT.

Lee, W, Larson, E, Goodsitt, M, Kripfgans, O, Roubidoux, M, Alvar, S, Chan, H, Carson, P, Dual-sided Breast Ultrasound in Mammographic Positions and Potential Spatial Correlation with Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT).  Radiological Society of North America 2014 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, - ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2014/14015434.html