title: Performance of vibro-acoustography in detecting microcalcifications in excised human breast tissue: a study of 74 tissue samples.
abstract: X-ray mammography is the principal modality used today for detection of breast microcalcifications and breast lesions associated with breast cancer. X-ray mammography, however, is ionizing and its sensitivity is greatly reduced in dense breasts. Hence, alternative noninvasive and nonionizing breast imaging tools that can aid physicians to better diagnose early-stage breast lesions are of great interest. Vibro-acoustography is a novel noninvasive imaging technique that uses ultrasound in a fundamentally new way. This method uses the radiation force of ultrasound to vibrate the tissue at low (kilohertz) frequency and records the resulting response to produce images that are related to the mechanical properties of the tissue. The goal of this study is to evaluate the performance of vibro-acoustography in detecting breast microcalcifications by conducting vibro-acoustography on 74 fixed breast tissue samples with known microcalcifications based on their radiographs. The results indicate that in most cases micro-calcifications can be detected by vibro-acoustography. Further development of vibro-acoustography may lead to a novel-imaging tool for in vivo detection of microcalcifications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Ultrasound Research Laboratory, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55905, USA. aza@mayo.edu
authors.forename: Azra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alizad
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fatemi
authors.forename: Lester E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wold
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Greenleaf
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary / Q000379:methods*; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C065646:RepR protein, Streptococcus agalactiae