Method and apparatus for breast imaging and tumor detection using modal vibration analysis
First Claim
1. A method for determining the elastic constants of breast tissue in order to detect the presence of tumors or other abnormalities in said tissue using Doppler shifted signals reflected from said breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
- conforming the breast tissue to a predetermined regular geometry;
exciting specific vibrational eigenmodes in said breast tissue;
scanning said breast tissue with coherent radiation and receiving Doppler shifted signals reflected by said breast tissue; and
analyzing said Doppler shifted signals to derive the vibration amplitude of said breast tissue.
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Abstract
A system for using Doppler modulation parameters for producing an estimation of the vibration amplitude of an object under investigation is disclosed in which a low frequency vibration source is used to force the oscillation of the object under investigation and a coherent or pulsed ultrasound imaging system is utilized to detect the spatial distribution of the vibration amplitude of the object in real-time. The reflected Doppler shifted waveform generated by reflecting the ultrasound waves off of the vibrating object under investigation is used to compute the vibration amplitude and frequency of the object using two alternative methods, either on a frequency domain estimator basis or on a time domain estimator basis. The system may also be utilized for breast imaging and tumor detection. By conforming the breast to a regular geometry, exciting specific vibrational eigenmodes, and analyzing the Doppler modulation parameters, the inherent shear and longitudinal wave parameters of breast tissue can be calculated. These are useful for detection of tumors and other abnormalities.
135 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for determining the elastic constants of breast tissue in order to detect the presence of tumors or other abnormalities in said tissue using Doppler shifted signals reflected from said breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
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conforming the breast tissue to a predetermined regular geometry; exciting specific vibrational eigenmodes in said breast tissue; scanning said breast tissue with coherent radiation and receiving Doppler shifted signals reflected by said breast tissue; and analyzing said Doppler shifted signals to derive the vibration amplitude of said breast tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for characterizing breast tissue by modal vibration analysis in real-time, using Doppler shifted signals reflected from said breast tissue, comprising the steps of:
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conforming said breast tissue to a predetermined regular geometry; vibrating said conformed breast tissue using a source of vibration; impinging coherent radiation on the surface of said conformed breast tissue; receiving said Doppler shifted signals reflected from said surface of breast tissue; and analyzing said Doppler shifted signals to determine discrete eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for determining the elastic constants of soft tissue in order to detect the presence of tumors or other abnormalities in said tissue using Doppler shifted signals reflected from said soft tissue, comprising the steps of:
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conforming the soft tissue to a predetermined regular geometry; exciting specific vibrational eigenmodes in said soft tissue; scanning said soft tissue with coherent radiation and receiving Doppler shifted signals reflected by said soft tissue; and analyzing said Doppler shifted signals to derive the vibration amplitude of said soft tissue. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for characterizing soft tissue by modal vibration analysis in real-time, using Doppler shifted signals reflected from said soft tissue, comprising the steps of:
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conforming said soft tissue to a predetermined regular geometry; vibrating said conformed soft tissue using a source of vibration; impinging coherent radiation on the surface of said conformed soft tissue; receiving said doppler shifted signals reflected from said surface of soft tissue; and analyzing said doppler shifted signals to determine discrete eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A system for characterizing breast tissue, comprising:
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means for conforming said breast tissue into a predetermined geometry; a vibration source for exciting vibrational eigenmodes in said breast tissue; a pulsed coherent energy imaging system for scanning said breast tissue and for receiving Doppler shifted signals representative of said vibrational eigenmodes reflected by said breast tissue resulting from said scanning; and means for evaluating said vibrational eigenmodes occurring within said breast tissue. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification