Transmission ultrasound tech can show microanatomy of the breast

A company is using ultrasound imaging technology to create a three-dimensional print of the breast duct system in a living woman.

QT Ultrasound says its transmission ultrasound breast imaging technology is the only of its type cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017.

The company says its technology provides sufficient granularity that it can produce high-fidelity detailed scans, even for women with dense breasts, to enable its scans to produce accurate 3D representations of ducts in the breast.

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The technology is beneficial because it has no radiation, no compression and requires no injections.

The fact that the technology is able to use 3D printing of human breast tissue-specific microanatomy—which the vendor says is the first using any medical imaging modality—has the potential to be a new diagnostic tool, and a new way for physicians to visualize human health and disease.



"Transmission ultrasound provides high-definition imaging of breast tissue, and we're excited to show why true 3D data acquisition and image reconstruction matters," says QT Ultrasound CEO John Klock, MD. “The benefits of being able to see breast tissue information in a true 3D volume, and then segment and isolate the tissue types, include new opportunities to examine the ductal network of the female breast in ways we never could before."

In 2018, the FDA granted QT Ultrasound Breakthrough Device designation for its QT Scanner, potentially offering new opportunities for earlier and more frequent screening for young women at high risk for breast cancer who have no available FDA-cleared screening options.

The QT Ultrasound Breast Scanner can be used as an ultrasonic imaging system to provide reflection-mode and transmission-mode images of a patient's breast. The device is not intended to be used as a replacement for screening mammography, however.