3D Supine Automated Ultrasound (SAUS, ABUS, ABVS) for Supplemental Screening Women with Dense Breasts

Abstract

The latest re-analysis of ACRIN 6666 data by Berg and co-workers 2016 showed that cancer detection rate with handheld ultrasound (HHUS) is comparable with mammography, with a greater proportion of invasive and node-negative cancers among US detections (1). Supplemental screening by HHUS in addition to mammography in women with dense breasts results in additional screen detected cancer rates between 1.8 and 4.6 per thousand examinations depending on the basic risk of the collectives (2). Three-dimensional supine automated ultrasound (SAUS) of the breast, also known as 3D automated breast ultrasound (ABUS; trademarks of General Electric company; Invenia and somo v * ABUS) or 3D automated breast volume scanning (ABVS, trademark of Siemens company; ACUSON S2000™ automated breast volume scanner), represents an innovative technology that has gained FDA approval for screening or early detection of breast cancer in women with dense breasts; claiming to find 35.7% more cancers in women with dense breasts than mammography alone (3, 4). Can ABUS/ABVS really catch up with HHUS and other supplementary imaging methods in screening women with dense breasts? What is the future of population-based supplemental imaging in women at intermediate risk? 3D supine automated ultrasound (SAUS: ABUS, ABVS) -what is it?In contrast to HHUS a mechanical arm links the ABUS or ABVS transducer with the computing system. Patients lie supine. A technician performs several automated standardized scanning tracks of both breasts at a predefined speed. The resulting three-dimensional data sets co-register the US echo information with the corresponding voxel positions within the breast volume. Finally a physician reads the data on a workstation similar to reading a CT or MRI examinations in multiple planes and reconstructions (5). Multiplanar reconstructions of 3D automated breast ultrasound have been shown to improve lesion differentiation by radiologists (6). Modern prone water bath systems operate on the principles of ultrasound tomography. They incorporate multiple sound characteristics of reflection, sound speed, and attenuation of transmission ultrasound that can be sampled by a circular array surrounding the breast. Currently clinical studies have been initiated. However, population-based trials do not exist to date (4). Advantages of 3D supine automated ultrasound (SAUS)Older versions of the 3D supine automated ultrasound technology have been shown to be inferior to HHUS (5, 7), however updated technology has overcome previous problems to a large degree (8, 9). The newest generation of ABUS (Invenia ABUS; trademark of GE) is faster, achieves a higher resolution and generates less coupling artefacts between the curved transducer and the curved surface of the breast compared to older systems with a plane transducer surface (5). Compared to HHUS, 3D supine automated ultrasound of the breast provides for better detection of architectural distortions and hyperechoic rim in the coronal plane (10, 11). The complete, non-selective documentation of th...

Deformable mapping technique to correlate lesions in digital breast tomosynthesis and automated breast ultrasound images

“…Both phantoms were imaged with a GE Invenia ABUS system (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI) immediately after DBT imaging. Light AP compression is applied to the phantoms when they are imaged with the Invenia ABUS system.…”

Wherein the Authors Attempt to Minimize the Confusion Generated by Their Study “Breast Cancer Mortality after a Diagnosis of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ” by Several Commentators Who Disagree with Them and a Few Who Don’t: A Qualitative Study

“…Most articles accurately stated that the mortality rate from dcis is low (3%) and that mortality was equivalent regardless of treatment type. Nevertheless, many commentators misinterpreted the finding of low mortality to infer either that dcis is a precursor, and not a cancer [15][16][17][18] ; that dcis is overdiagnosed and does not need to be treated (that is, "watch and wait") [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] ; or that dcis is overtreated (that is, omit radiotherapy) [30][31][32][33][34] . Most troubling from our point of view was that several commentators interpreted the finding that the increased risk of death from breast cancer in dcis patients who developed an ipsilateral invasive recurrence justified efforts to prevent the invasive ipsilateral recurrence as a life-saving measure [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] .…”

3D Automated Breast Ultrasound System: Comparison of Interpretation Time of Senior Versus Junior Radiologist

“…Multiple studies have demonstrated similar sensitivity, cancer detection rate, diagnostic accuracy rates and image quality for both ABUS and HHUS (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). The new generation ABUS provides better detection of architectural distortions, lesion localization and typical hyperechoic rim on coronal planes (9,17,18). Thick hyperechoic rim is suspicious sonographic finding which suggests the presence of invasive cancer.…”

“…Thick hyperechoic rim is suspicious sonographic finding which suggests the presence of invasive cancer. However, ABUS has some limitations such as 10% lower cancer detection rate, higher false positive results and recalls, shadowing artefacts, incompatibility for US guided biopsy, limited evaluation of axilla, absence of elastography or Doppler techniques for further characterization of the lesions and relatively higher cost compared to HHUS (4,(18)(19)(20).…”