Abstract
Although the science and engineering of ultrasound computed tomography (USCT) has been explored for over four decades, there have been relatively few instances of a system being developed and applied to patients. Nonetheless, there have been notable results from the clinical setting, especially recently, that illustrate how a successful USCT scanner may provide significant advances to women’s health. For practical anatomical reasons, this work has almost exclusively addressed imaging of the female breast. Other quantitative ultrasound techniques have been applied to characterizing the female breast, including quantitative backscatter analysis, shear wave speed, computer-aided diagnosis, etc., but USCT is the focus of this chapter. We highlight the evolution of scanner design and image reconstruction by presenting key results from patient measurements by the major researchers in the field. There has been steady progress in electronics, parallel processors, reconstruction algorithms, understanding of the physical properties of breast tissue and a resurgence of interest in the medical community for dedicated breast ultrasound systems. It is understood today that USCT may be able to contribute in many aspects of the medical management of breast disease including detection, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
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Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the support and contributions of Melissa Ledgerwood, B.S., Melanie Aiken, B.A., Laura Brogoch, B.S., Karleen Callahan, Ph.D. and the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute SBIR Program and Academic-Industry Partnership Program.
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André, M., Wiskin, J., Borup, D. (2013). Clinical Results with Ultrasound Computed Tomography of the Breast. In: Mamou, J., Oelze, M. (eds) Quantitative Ultrasound in Soft Tissues. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6952-6_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6952-6_15
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