Phase-insensitive ultrasound computed tomography for acoustic attenuation imaging of breast phantoms

Abstract

Ultrasound computed tomography offers to be a transformative breast imaging technology; however, quantitative measurement and artefact-free reconstruction of the diagnostically important property of acoustic attenuation has proven to be a challenge. The UK's National Physical Laboratory (Teddington, UK) have developed a prototype ultrasound computed tomography system which utilises a novel sensor technology specifically designed for quantitative acoustic attenuation tomography. This scanning system, with its phase-insensitive receiver, has been used to generate 2D and 3D quantitative images of the acoustic attenuation of commercially-available and bespoke breast phantoms made by CIRS (Norfolk, VA, USA). The acoustic attenuation measurements and images obtained from the system were evaluated in comparison to acoustically characterised phantom materials and Xray computed tomography imagery. The images, while generated using a relatively fast and simple reconstruction method, were found to be less susceptible to artefacts common to acoustic attenuation tomography.