New Ultrasound Technique "Feels” Breast Lesions

The method was described in the April 5, 2002, issue of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.

Called acoustic radiation force impulse (ARF), the technique is a new radiation force based method that uses a single ultrasound send-and-receive transducer both to emit two different kinds of high frequency sound pulses and to detect the resulting effects on tissues. A computer converts the reflections from the tissue into images. This technique builds on a related phenomenon called streaming detection, in which two kinds of ultrasound waves detect the presence of fluid, such as that in benign breast cysts, by causing the fluid to move.

Developed by researchers at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA), the new technique is able to move soft tissues in the body on the order of 10 microns in a way that provides information about the stiffness and other mechanical properties of various tissues. These differences show both in the brightness variations in the images and in the time it takes for tissues to recover following application of the pushing beams. ARFI images of human breast, thyroid, and abdominal tissues were all evaluated. The goal is to differentiate between benign solid lesions and malignant ones in order to reduce the number of biopsies performed on benign breast abnormalities. The researchers say other promising uses are for examining the stiffness of arteries or for the detection of deep vein clots.

"It's effectively like putting your fingertips inside of the breast and pushing on a small region of about 1-2 mm,” said Katheryn Nightingale, assistant research professor of biomedical engineering at Pratt.




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