Dear Ultrasound Insider,
In the ongoing quest to improve the performance of breast imaging, a number of technologies are vying for a role. Whole-breast ultrasound tomography may provide a number of key benefits, however, according to researchers at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.
A prototype developed by the institute is achieving comparable resolution to MRI, and it may offer an improvement in positive predictive value over the combination of ultrasound and mammography, according to the researchers. They also believe ultrasound tomography may prove valuable in predicting therapy response, as well as aid in predicting breast cancer risk.
As an Insider subscriber, you have access to this Insider Exclusive before it is published for the rest of our AuntMinnie.com members. To learn more about the promise of breast ultrasound tomography, click here.
In other articles we're featuring this month in your Ultrasound Digital Community, learn why endoscopic ultrasound is just as good as transabdominal ultrasound for determining the cause of upper abdominal pain by clicking here.
In addition, the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication is eyeing an expanded role for 3D ultrasound in carotid intima-media thickness scans as part of its upcoming new cardiac risk assessment guidelines. International editor Eric Barnes has the details.
In more positive echocardiography contrast media news, a new meta-analysis has found that using these agents does not lead to more myocardial infarctions or deaths. Also, discover more about the potential of a subharmonic breast ultrasound technique.
Swiss researchers have also developed a real-time parametric imaging technique for distinguishing benign from malignant liver lesions on contrast-enhanced ultrasound.
Do you have an idea for a topic you'd like to see covered? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)