Three dimensional ultrasonic imaging for diagnosis of breast tumor

Three dimensional ultrasonic imaging and digital processing of extraction and construction of breast tumor is proposed for the diagnosis of breast tumors. Since a malignant tumor has uneven shape and complex boundaries, it is possible to evaluate the tumor using characteristics of tumor morphology. The automated extraction of breast tumors and evaluation of the surface of tumor is a significant problem for computer aided diagnosis. The proposed system consists of commercially available ultrasonic diagnosis equipment, a magnetic sensor for location and orientation, and image processing system. The automated extraction of tumor by fuzzy reasoning uses the membership function assumed as Rician distribution function. We apply the method to 20 cases of malignant tumors and 13 cases of benign tumors. As a result we succeeded in constructing the three dimensional breast tumors and displayed the surface rendering image of the extracted tumor. The relation of three kinds of parameter to a degree of surface roughness of the extracted tumor is investigated for diagnosis