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The new technology, called ultrasound-guided optical tomography, was tested in 178 patients by physicians at several hospitals in Connecticut.

A non-invasive technique successfully examined breast lesions, which may result in replacing biopsies as a non-surgical method of determining if a lesion is malignant or benign. The new technology, called ultrasound-guided optical tomography, was tested in 178 patients by physicians at several hospitals in Connecticut. Their results were recently published online in the journal Radiology.

Currently, women who are screened for breast cancer receive mammography and ultrasound to detect suspicious lesions and whether they are malign (cancerous). If neither test determines if a lesion is malignant, then they must undergo a biopsy, in which a section of tissue is removed from the breast.

“The goal of our study was to investigate the potential of diffuse optical tomography in the near infrared spectrum with ultrasound localization as a means of differentiating early-stage cancers from benign lesions of the breast," said lead researcher Quing Zhu, PhD.

"Based on our results, we believe that ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography holds promise as an adjunct to diagnostic mammography and ultrasound for distinguishing early-stage invasive breast cancers from benign lesions,” continued Dr. Zhu, who is from the University of Connecticut. “We expect this technology will be used to help radiologists evaluate small to intermediate size lesions that are harder to diagnose with conventional imaging technologies."

Source: Allvoices