Methods, systems, and computer readable media for evaluating mechanical anisotropy for breast cancer screening and monitoring response to therapy

1. A method for evaluating mechanical anisotropy of a tissue sample to determine a characteristic of the tissue sample, the method comprising:

interrogating the tissue sample a plurality of times, each interrogation comprising:

applying a force having a direction, having a coronal plane normal to the direction of the force, and having an oval or other profile with long and short axes within the coronal plane, the long axis being oriented at a specified angle from a reference direction within the coronal plane; and

measuring displacement of the tissue sample resulting from application of the force, wherein the interrogations are taken at different angles of orientation within the coronal plane and different portions of the tissue sample are interrogated;

for each measurement, calculating one or more parameters for the respective angle of orientation, wherein the one or more parameters are one or more of a peak displacement, a relative elasticity, and a relative viscosity;

determining a first degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a first portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the first portion believed to contain a lesion;

determining a second degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a second portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the second portion believed to contain background tissue surrounding but not including the lesion;

determining that the first portion is malignant when the first degree of anisotropy is lower than the second degree of anisotropy; and

determining that the first portion is benign when the first degree of anisotropy is higher than the second degree of anisotropy, wherein the tissue sample comprises a breast tissue sample.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the first degree of anisotropy and second degree of anisotropy of the tissue sample to evaluate the characteristic of the tissue sample comprises:

fitting each of the calculated parameters to a sinusoid extrapolated to 360 degrees to create at least a first sinusoid representing the first portion of the different portions of the tissue sample and a second sinusoid representing the second portion of the different portions of the tissue sample; and

for each sinusoid, determining the degree of anisotropy of the respective parameter based on a ratio of maximum to minimum values for that parameter.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein interrogating the tissue sample comprises interrogating the tissue sample using an ultrasound transducer.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein fitting each of the calculated parameters to a sinusoid comprises using a least squares minimization.

5. A system for evaluating mechanical anisotropy of a tissue sample to determine a characteristic of the tissue sample, the system comprising:

an ultrasound transducer;

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions executable by the one or more processors for: controlling the ultrasound transducer to interrogate the tissue sample a plurality of times, each interrogation comprising:

controlling the ultrasound transducer to apply a force having a direction, having a coronal plane normal to the direction of the force, and having an oval or other profile with long and short axes within the coronal plane, the long axis being oriented at a specified angle from a reference direction within the coronal plane; and

measuring displacement of the tissue sample resulting from application of the force, wherein the interrogations are taken at different angles of orientation within the coronal plane and different portions of the tissue sample are interrogated;

the memory further storing instructions executable by the one or more processors for: for each measurement, calculating one or more parameters for the respective angle of orientation, wherein the one or more parameters are one or more of a peak displacement, a relative elasticity, and a relative viscosity;

determining a first degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a first portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the first portion believed to contain a lesion;

determining a second degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a second portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the second portion believed to contain background tissue surrounding but not including the lesion;

determining that the first portion is malignant when the first degree of anisotropy is lower than the second degree of anisotropy; and

determining that the first portion is benign when the first degree of anisotropy is higher than the second degree of anisotropy, wherein the tissue sample comprises a breast tissue sample.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein determining the first degree of anisotropy and second degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters to evaluate a characteristic of the tissue sample includes:

fitting each of the calculated parameters to a sinusoid extrapolated to 360 degrees to create at least a first sinusoid representing the first portion of the tissue sample and a second sinusoid representing the second portion of the tissue sample;

for each sinusoid, determining the degree of anisotropy of the respective parameter based on a ratio of maximum to minimum values for that parameter; and for each parameter, phase aligning the sinusoid for that parameter for the first portion of the different portions of the tissue sample and the sinusoid for that parameter for the second of the different portions of the tissue sample.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein fitting each of the calculated parameters to a sinusoid comprises using a least squares minimization.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:

controlling an ultrasound transducer to interrogate a tissue sample a plurality of times, each interrogation comprising:

applying a force having a direction, having a coronal plane normal to the direction of the force, and having an oval or other profile with long and short axes within the coronal plane, the long axis being oriented at a specified angle from a reference direction within the coronal plane; and

measuring displacement of the tissue sample resulting from application of the force, wherein the interrogations are taken at different angles of orientation within the coronal plane and different portions of the tissue sample are interrogated;

for each measurement, calculating one or more parameters for the respective angle of orientation, wherein the one or more parameters are one or more of a peak displacement, a relative elasticity, and a relative viscosity;

determining a first degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a first portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the first portion believed to contain a lesion;

determining a second degree of anisotropy based on the one or more parameters calculated for each of the interrogations in a second portion of the different portions of the tissue sample, the second portion believed to contain background tissue surrounding but not including the lesion;

determining that the first portion is malignant when the first degree of anisotropy is lower than the second degree of anisotropy; and

determining that the first portion is benign when the first degree of anisotropy is higher than the second degree of anisotropy, wherein the tissue sample comprises a breast tissue sample.