Lesion size ratio for differentiating breast masses

We are developing a clinical ultrasonic imaging system for real-time estimation and display of tissue elastic properties. We have demonstrated that real-time feedback of elasticity image is essential for obtaining high-quality data (consecutive images with high spatial coherence). The key element to successful scanning is real-time visual feedback which guides the patient positioning and compression direction. One of our findings, consistent with previous report is that benign breast masses are typically about the same size in B-mode images. In this work we continue testing that hypothesis with an increasingly large data set with greater diversity of breast mass types. Results from a single-observer ROC study demonstrate that the lesion size ratio is a useful criterion for classifying benign versus malignant breast masses.