Study of breast pathology using a 2-D color flow system

A prototype water-tank-based analog/digital pulsed imaging system was built to study the feasibility of tumor differentiation using color flow Doppler under low-flow and weak scattering conditions. Images of the whole breast instead of one section were obtained. Data from 20 slices per patient were taken. Since attenuation increases with depth, the recorded ultrasound images were characterized by low signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio with increasing tissue depth. Therefore, frequency estimation algorithms based on depth dependent threshold variation were developed to determine the Doppler frequency at low S/N ratios. Preliminary clinical studies using this system were performed and show good correlation with various medical diagnostic modalities used to investigate breast tumors