An Automated System for Full Angle Spatial Compounding in Ultrasound Breast Imaging

For the detection of breast cancer, ultrasound is conventionally used in addition to mammography. However, ultrasound is highly operator-dependent since speckle, depth dependency and artifacts (e.g. shadowing) affect image quality. Full Angle Spatial Compounding (FASC) may overcome those limitations by superimposing ultrasound data acquired in one cross-sectional plane from aspect angles all around an object. Furthermore, we showed in vitro that FASC also improves contrast perfusion imaging. To apply FASC to breast imaging, we developed an add-on system to a conventional ultrasound scanner, integrated in a custom-made examination couch. Here, we present first in-vivo results from test persons and patients with breast lesions.