Acquisition and stereoscopic visualization of three-dimensional ultrasonic breast data

A motorized mechanical setup has been designed to provide a series of two-dimensional (2-D) parallel echographic slices of the breast from the regular translation of a linear phased array transducer. During the acquisition step, the breast is compressed between a plane support and a plexiglass plate to avoid breast motions. A stereoscopic computer graphic method has been developed for the visualization of such three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasonic data. Experiments on an agar gel phantom and on in vivo female breasts have been performed.