Global breast attenuation:control group and benign breast diseases.
This paper deals with the estimation of the slope of attenuation in human breast tissue. The measurement is done in the reflection mode with a short time Fourier analysis. All important factors such as diffraction effect, tissue depth and specular reflectors are taken into account. A population of 49 normal women shows large inter-individual variations of the attenuation coefficient. A multiple linear regression allows correlation of this variation with the duration of the woman's genital life and pregnancies. A preliminary study is done on 10 benign diffuse breast diseases and shows a weak correlation with the type of the breast: normal or pathological. The utility of the quantification is discussed for one case of large fibrocystic disease.
Berger
G
G
Lab. Biophysics, UA CNRS 593, Cochin University-Hospital, Paris, France.
Laugier
P
P
Thalabard
J C
JC
Perrin
J
J
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008572:Menarche; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*