IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control. 2018 Sep;65(9):1590-1599. doi: 10.1109/TUFFC.2018.2849687. Epub 2018 Jun 22.
Automated breast volume scanner (ABVS) is an ultrasound imaging modality used in breast cancer screening. It has high sensitivity but limited specificity as it is hard to discriminate between benign and malignant lesions by echogenic properties. Specificity might be improved by shear strain imaging as malignant lesions, firmly bonded to its host tissue, show different shear patterns compared to benign lesions, often loosely bonded. Therefore, 3-D quasi-static elastography was implemented in an ABVS-like system. Plane wave instead of conventional focused transmissions were used to reduce scan times within a single breath hold. A 3-D strain tensor was obtained and shear strains were reconstructed in phantoms containing firmly and loosely bonded lesions. Experiments were also simulated in finite-element models (FEMs). Experimental results, confirmed by FEM-results, indicated that loosely bonded lesions showed increased maximal shear strains (2.5%) and different shear patterns compared to firmly bonded lesions (0.9%). To conclude, we successfully implemented 3-D elastography in an ABVS-like system to assess lesion bonding by shear strain imaging.
自动乳腺全容积超声扫描仪（ABVS）是一种用于乳腺癌筛查的超声成像方式。它具有较高的灵敏度，但特异性有限，因为很难通过回声特性来区分良性和恶性病变。通过剪切应变成像可以提高特异性，因为与宿主组织紧密结合的恶性病变与良性病变相比表现出不同的剪切模式，良性病变通常结合松散。因此，在类似于 ABVS 的系统中实现了 3D 准静态弹性成像。使用平面波代替传统的聚焦传输，以在单次呼吸暂停期间减少扫描时间。获得了 3D 应变张量，并在包含紧密和松散结合病变的体模中重建了剪切应变。还在有限元模型（FEM）中模拟了实验。通过 FEM 结果证实的实验结果表明，与紧密结合的病变（0.9%）相比，松散结合的病变显示出更高的最大剪切应变（2.5%）和不同的剪切模式。总之，我们成功地在类似于 ABVS 的系统中实现了 3D 弹性成像，以通过剪切应变成像评估病变结合情况。
