3D USCT nears reality
Back in the 70s, when scientists first speculated on the development of 3-D ultrasound computed tomography (3-D USCT) the available technology could not equal their dreams. Now, before the end of 2007, a prototype at Germany’s Karlsruhe Research Centre will be used for the first in-vivo tests.
EH reporter Meike Lerner asked Professor Hartmut Gemmeke, Head of the Institute for Data Processing and Electronics, at the Centre, and one of the developers of 3-D USCT, why such a prototype has taken so long to create, and what it might achieve
Hartmut Gemmeke
Now we are at the stage where we have carried out the first tests with nylon threads of 0.15mm, which were very successful. By the end of the year we will be able to test the sensitivity of this method for mammography in the first in-vivo tests.
During a 3-D USCT scan, the patient lies face down on a couch. The breasts hang through a cutout space in the couch. The USCT cylinder, filled with body-temperature water is directly below, so the breast can be comfortably positioned inside it. Thus the painful squashing experienced in traditional breast scanners is eliminated. Another advantage to USCT: no radiation exposure.
The surface of the cylinder has sensors (currently 1,600 in the prototype, but the hope is to increase this to 1,900). Each sensor in turn sends a signal, which the other sensors receive, so a view is obtained from every direction and then assembled into a 3D image.
Therefore, 3D ultrasound CT offers possibilities to show all modalities together in one image – and this means we’ll probably be able to obtain information about the disease pattern of breast cancer at a molecular level. We’ve carried out first examinations with tracers, which can then be seen in 3D via ultrasound; however, this method is still in its infancy and we cannot yet say much about the sensitivity. However, if our expectations are confirmed, this would mean we’ll be able to detect and quantify breast cancer in its very early stages.
Therapeutic use via hyperthermia is a further vision we have for 3D USCT. The conditions for this are given due to the large number of ultrasound sensors that focus as actors and can shell the tumour using hyperthermia.
However, these are dreams of the future. Initially we’d like to prove, with clinical tests, that 3D USCT does indeed have the effects in mammography for which we hope.
Therefore we plan to find a partner in the medical industry who will help us to implement this technology - we expect this will take two to three years. Then it will probably take another two years before the first equipment reaches hospitals. By the way, the price for this type of equipment is likely to be similar to what we currently pay for digital mammography equipment.
This article was published on 06/20/2007
