Ultrasound attenuation parameters of breast masses are closely related to their types and pathological states, therefore, it is essential to reliably estimate attenuation parameters for quantitative breast tissue characterization. We study the applicability of three different attenuation tomography methods for ultrasound breast imaging using a ring transducer array. The first method uses the amplitude decays of signals transmitted through the breast to reconstruct attenuation coefficients. The second method employs the spectral ratios between the pulse propagating through the breast and that through water to obtain attenuation parameters. The third method makes use of the complex energy ratios estimated using the amplitude envelopes of transmitted signals. We use in vitro and in vivo breast data acquired with a clinical ultrasound breast imaging system (CURE) to compare these tomography methods. Our results show that the amplitude decay method yields attenuation coefficients with more artifacts than the other two methods. There is bias and variability in the estimated attenuation using the spectral ratio due to its sensitivity to different temporal band-widths and signal-to-noise-ratios of the data. The method based on the complex signal energy ratio is more robust than the other two methods and yields images with fewer artifacts.

Date Published: 13 March 2008
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6920, Medical Imaging 2008: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing, 692015 (13 March 2008);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6920:
Medical Imaging 2008: Ultrasonic Imaging and Signal Processing
Stephen A. McAleavey; Jan D'hooge, Editor(s)