Ultrasound computer tomography

Ultrasound computer tomography (USCT), sometimes also Ultrasound computed tomography, Ultrasound computerized tomography or just Ultrasound tomography, is a form of medical ultrasound tomography utilizing ultrasound waves as physical phenomenon for imaging. It is mostly in use for soft tissue medical imaging, especially breast imaging. Ultrasound computer tomographs use ultrasound waves for creating images. In the first measurement step a defined ultrasound wave is generated with typically Piezoelectric ultrasound transducers, transmitted in direction of the measurement object and received with other or the same ultrasound transducers. While traversing and interacting with the object the ultrasound wave is changed by the object and carries now information about the object. After being recorded the information from the modulated waves can be extracted and used to create an image of the object in a second step. Unlike X-ray or other physical properties which provide typically only one information, ultrasound provides multiple information of the object for imaging: the attenuation the wave's sound pressure experiences indicate on the object's attenuation coefficient, the time-of-flight of the wave gives speed of sound information, and the scattered wave indicates on the echogenicity of the object (e.g. refraction index, surface morphology, etc.). Unlike conventional ultrasound sonography, which uses phased array technology for beamforming, most USCT systems utilize unfocused spherical waves for imaging. Most USCT systems aiming for 3D-imaging, either by synthesizing ("stacking") 2D images or by full 3D aperture setups. Another aim is quantitative imaging instead of only qualitative imaging. The idea of Ultrasound computer tomography goes back to the 1950s with analogue compounding setups, in the mid 1970s the first "computed" USCT systems were built up, utilizing digital technology. The "computer" in the USCT concept indicates the heavy reliance on computational intensive advanced digital signal processing, and algorithms for imaging.