Open Access
24 October 2019 Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope 2: system overview and three-dimensional vascular network images in healthy breasts
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We present the Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope 2, a photoacoustic breast imaging system employing a tomographic configuration. It images one breast pendant inside an imaging tank filled with water while a woman lies prone on a bed. A dual-head laser (755 and 1064 nm) illuminates the breast with one beam directed at the nipple and nine beams directed at the sides. Ultrasound signals are detected using 12 arc-shaped arrays, each curving along the pendant breast. Each array comprises 32 piezocomposite elements each with a center frequency of 1 MHz. The imaging tank and the ultrasound arrays rotate around the breast in steps to obtain additional multiple projections. Three-dimensional images are reconstructed using a filtered backprojection algorithm. The system is described in detail, and measurements on a test object are presented. As part of a preliminary study to assess the system’s in vivo performance, the breasts of two healthy volunteers were imaged. These images show the breast contour, the nipple, and the vascular anatomy within the breast. In the nipple of one case, multiple high-intensity “hot spots” are observed, which we suspect are associated with the lactiferous ducts terminating in the nipple.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Sjoukje M. Schoustra, Daniele Piras, Roeland Huijink, Tim J. P. M. op't Root, Laurens Alink, Wouter Muller F. Kobold, Wiendelt Steenbergen, and Srirang Manohar "Twente Photoacoustic Mammoscope 2: system overview and three-dimensional vascular network images in healthy breasts," Journal of Biomedical Optics 24(12), 121909 (24 October 2019). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.24.12.121909
Received: 4 May 2019; Accepted: 22 August 2019; Published: 24 October 2019
Lens.org Logo
CITATIONS
Cited by 40 scholarly publications.
Advertisement
Advertisement
KEYWORDS
Breast

Photoacoustic spectroscopy

Imaging systems

Sensors

Nipple

3D image processing

Signal detection

Back to Top