An Automated Breast Ultrasound Scanner with Integrated Shear Wave Elastography, Doppler Flow Imaging and Photoacoustic Tomography

We have integrated shear wave elasticity, Doppler flow imaging, and photoacoustic tomography into the SonixEm-brace automated breast ultrasound scanner (ABUS). This system can acquire a multimodal volumetric scan of the entire breast in under ten minutes. We present here a series of phantom studies demonstrating the capabilities of this combined system for the first time. We imaged a commercially available elastography training phantom, measuring the stiffness of the background material to be 17.5 ± 0.1 kPa and the stiffness of the inclusions to be 32.3 ± 0.3 kPa, as compared to the manufacturer's provided values of 20 ± 5 kPa and ~40 kPa, respectively. We imaged a knotted tube phantom, demonstrating the computation and scan conversion of volumetric Doppler flow data. Finally, we developed and imaged a multimodal phantom incorporating inclusions which are uniquely visible in either elasticity or photoacoustic imaging.