Method of characterizing breast tissue using multiple contrast enhanced ultrasound renderings

1. A method for characterizing a volume of breast tissue of a patient, comprising:

introducing a contrast agent into the volume of breast tissue;

scanning the volume of breast tissue with a ring transducer comprising a plurality of transmitters configured to emit acoustic waves towards a volume of contrast agent-enhanced breast tissue and a plurality of receivers configured to detect a plurality of acoustic waves from the volume of contrast agent-enhanced breast tissue;

at a computer processing system receiving an enhanced acoustic data set derived from the plurality of acoustic waves;

at the computer processing system generating a set of enhanced morphology renderings of the volume of contrast agent-enhanced breast tissue from the enhanced acoustic data set, wherein the set of enhanced morphology renderings includes a first enhanced morphology rendering representing a distribution of acoustic speed, a second enhanced morphology rendering representing distribution of acoustic attenuation, and a third enhanced morphology rendering representing a distribution of acoustic reflection within the volume of contrast agent-enhanced tissue;

at the computer processing system, generating a merged rendering based on the first, the second, and the third enhanced morphology renderings;

at the computer processing system identifying a region of interest within the volume of contrast agent-enhanced breast tissue from the merged rendering;

at the computer processing system, determining a set of prognostic parameters for the region of interest, wherein the set of prognostic parameters for the region of interest comprises a volume average value of acoustic attenuation, a volume average value of acoustic speed, and a reflection index characterizing margin sharpness for the region of interest, wherein the reflection index is derived from changes in acoustic impedance within the region of interest; and

at the computer processing system, characterizing the region of interest as at least one of malignant and benign based on a predictive model and the set of prognostic parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a time-dependent set of enhanced renderings including the set of enhanced morphology renderings, wherein each rendering of the time-dependent set of enhanced renderings corresponds to a respective time point of a series of time points after introducing the contrast agent into the volume of breast tissue.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving a first acoustic data set and generating a baseline morphology rendering of the volume of breast tissue based on the first acoustic data set before introducing the contrast agent.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the set of prognostic parameters comprises determining a maximum change in a value of at least one of the set of prognostic parameters between an enhanced rendering of the time-dependent set of enhanced renderings and the baseline morphology rendering.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the set of prognostic parameters comprises characterizing kinetics of contrast agent flow across the time-dependent set of enhanced renderings spanning the series of time points.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining the set of prognostic parameters comprises determining a maximum volume average value of a biomechanical property for the region of interest, corresponding to a time point of the series of time points, from the time-dependent set of enhanced renderings.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the set of prognostic parameters for the region of interest comprises determining a relative value of at least one of the reflection index, the volume average value of acoustic attenuation, and the volume average value of acoustic speed, wherein the relative value is defined in comparison to values in tissue surrounding the region of interest.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein characterizing the region of interest based on the predictive model and the set of prognostic parameters comprises characterizing the region of interest as at least one of a cancerous tumor, a fibroadenoma, a cyst, a nonspecific benign mass, and an unidentifiable mass.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the set of prognostic parameters includes classifying a margin of the region of interest according to an integer scale of reflection indices, wherein values below a first threshold on the integer scale indicate a sharp margin and values above a second threshold on the integer scale indicate an indistinct margin of the region of interest, and wherein the method further includes characterizing the region of interest based upon the set of prognostic parameters and an architectural distortion parameter characterizing altered anatomy in tissue surrounding the region of interest.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein characterizing the region of interest includes characterizing the region of interest as a cancerous mass if the reflection index is above a threshold value on the integer scale, the volume average value of acoustic attenuation is higher for the region of interest relative to that for fat tissue, the volume average value of acoustic speed is faster for the region of interest relative to that for fat tissue, and the architectural distortion parameter indicates altered anatomy in tissue surrounding the region of interest.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein characterizing the region of interest includes characterizing the region of interest as a benign mass if the reflection index is below a threshold value on an integer scale, the volume average value of acoustic attenuation is below an attenuation threshold for the region of interest, the volume average value of acoustic speed is below a speed threshold for the region of interest, and the architectural distortion parameter indicates no altered anatomy in tissue surrounding the region of interest.