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Photoacoustic ultrasonography and its potential application in mammography
Author(s) -
Fang Yuncai
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.597974
Subject(s) - microwave , ultrasonic sensor , mammography , photoacoustic imaging in biomedicine , ultrasound , absorption (acoustics) , ultrasonography , photoacoustic effect , materials science , microwave imaging , optics , acoustics , biomedical engineering , radiology , medicine , breast cancer , physics , telecommunications , cancer , computer science
In this thesis, photoacoustic ultrasonography (PAUS) and its applicability in breast cancer detection were investigated. PAUS employs a short pulse of electromagnetic energy, at either near‐infrared or microwave frequency, to heat breast tissue. Rapid heating, resulting from inhomogeneous absorption of the energy pulse, generates ultrasonic waves. The energy absorption patterns can be reconstructed from these pressure waves recorded at locations around the periphery of the tissue. This study concentrated on microwave‐induced PAUS (434 MHz). The principle of the photoacoustic signal generation was analyzed, and the image reconstruction method was implemented and validated by imaging experiments. Extensive studies of microwave‐induced PAUS demonstrated that an adequate absorption difference of microwaves at 434 MHz exists between benign and malignant breast tissues. Experiments suggest that adequate ultrasonic signals can be detected using proper instrumentation, which allow the microwave absorption patterns to be reconstructed. I conclude that microwave‐induced PAUS is likely to be a useful imaging modality for breast screening.