Experimental Breast Phantom studies for Estimation of Breast Tumor Using Ultrasound and Mammography Imaging Systems

ABSTRACT Mammography, the standard method for breast cancer screening, misses many cancers, especially in women with dense breast. Whole-breast ultrasonography has been advocated to supplement digital mammography to improve outcomes. The main purpose of this study was to determine early breast tumour detection by assessing the performance of breast ultrasonography compared with X-ray mammography. We compared the performance and diagnostic yield of mammography alone versus ultrasound. The main objective was to investigate is ultrasound a viable method for early breast cancer detection. Breast Elastography phantom was used in this study as a method for comparison between both imaging modalities. We examine the detection capabilities of both imaging systems through visual visulisation of tumor and measureing the full-width at half maximum (FWHM). The imaging setup were optimized for small tumors using ultrasound and X-ray mammography imaging systems. In mammography, breast compression is applied to reduce the thickness of the breast phantom. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of using high-resolution ultrasound as complementry method for both screening and diagnostic mammography. For such phantom ultrasound is a more sensitive and accurate modality compared to digital mammography. Keywords: Mammography, US, Breast cancer; tumor detection