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Automated breast ultrasound: basic principles and emerging clinical applications

La radiologia medica volume 123, pages 1–12 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) is a recently introduced ultrasonography technique, developed with the purpose to standardize breast ultrasonography and overcome some limitations of handheld ultrasound (HHUS), such as operator dependence and the considerable amount of medical time necessary to perform and interpret HHUS. This new ultrasonography technique separates the moment of image acquisition (that may be performed also by a technician) from that of its interpretation, increasing reproducibility, reducing operator-dependence and physician time. Moreover, multiplanar reconstructions, especially the coronal view, introduce new diagnostic information. ABUS, with those advantages, has the potential to be used as an adjunctive tool to screening mammography, especially in the dense breast, where mammography has a relatively low sensitivity. Women’s awareness of risks related to breast density is a hot topic, especially in the USA where legislative breast density notification laws increase the demand for supplemental ultrasound screening. Therefore, ABUS might have the potential to respond to this need. The purpose of this article is to present a summary of current state-of-the-art of ABUS technology and applications, with an emphasis on breast cancer screening. This article discusses also how to overcome some ABUS limitations, in order to be familiar with the new technique.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Area, Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Udine, Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria ‘S. Maria della Misericordia’, P.le Santa Maria della Misericordia, 15, 33100, Udine, Italy

    Martina Zanotel, Iliana Bednarova, Viviana Londero, Anna Linda, Michele Lorenzon, Rossano Girometti & Chiara Zuiani

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  1. Martina Zanotel
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  2. Iliana Bednarova
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  3. Viviana Londero
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  4. Anna Linda
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  7. Chiara Zuiani
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Correspondence to Martina Zanotel.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

The images of automated breast volumetric scanner (ABVS) and MRI shown in the figures were retrospectively selected among examinations previously performed according to an Ethical Committee approved trial investigating the role for ABVS in clinical practice, with informed consent obtained from all individual participants.

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Zanotel, M., Bednarova, I., Londero, V. et al. Automated breast ultrasound: basic principles and emerging clinical applications. Radiol med 123, 1–12 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0805-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11547-017-0805-z

Keywords

  • Automated breast ultrasound
  • Screening
  • Breast cancer
  • Ultrasonography