Second-Generation Dual Scan Mammoscope With Photoacoustic, Ultrasound, and Elastographic Imaging Capabilities

Emily Zheng; Huijuan Zhang; Soumya Goswami; Irteza Enan Kabir; Marvin M Doyley; Jun Xia

doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.779071

Second-Generation Dual Scan Mammoscope With Photoacoustic, Ultrasound, and Elastographic Imaging Capabilities

Front Oncol. 2021 Nov 19:11:779071. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.779071. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Emily Zheng¹, Huijuan Zhang¹, Soumya Goswami², Irteza Enan Kabir², Marvin M Doyley², Jun Xia¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, United States.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States.

Abstract

We recently developed the photoacoustic dual-scan mammoscope (DSM), a system that images the patient in standing pose analog to X-ray mammography. The system simultaneously acquires three-dimensional photoacoustic and ultrasound (US) images of the mildly compressed breast. Here, we describe a second-generation DSM (DSM-2) system that offers a larger field of view, better system stability, higher ultrasound imaging quality, and the ability to quantify tissue mechanical properties. In the new system, we doubled the field of view through laterally shifted round-trip scanning. This new design allows coverage of the entire breast tissue. We also adapted precisely machined holders for the transducer-fiber bundle sets. The new holder increased the mechanical stability and facilitated image registration from the top and bottom scanners. The quality of the US image is improved by increasing the firing voltage and the number of firing angles. Finally, we incorporated quasi-static ultrasound elastography to allow comprehensive characterization of breast tissue. The performance of the new system was demonstrated through in vivo human imaging experiments. The experimental results confirmed the capability of the DSM-2 system as a powerful tool for breast imaging.

Keywords: breast (diagnostic); breast cancer; dual scan mammoscope; elastography; imaging; photoacoustic (PA); photoacoustic (optoacoustic) imaging; ultrasound.