Photoacoustic and thermoacoustic tomography for breast imaging

1. A system for imaging a breast of a patient comprising:

a support sized and shaped for contacting the patient around the breast;

a cylindrical body mounted on the support having a side wall including an ultrasonically transparent upper portion defining an interior sized and shaped for receiving the breast of the patient when the support contacts the patient around the breast and a lower portion adjacent the upper portion;

a plurality of ultrasonic transducers positioned radially outward from the ultrasonically transparent upper portion of the cylindrical body side wall;

a piston slideably mounted in the lower portion of the cylindrical body side wall for movement toward and away from the upper portion of the cylindrical body to position the breast in the interior of the upper portion of the cylindrical body side wall;

equipment positioned axially downward from the piston for directing radiation through the piston and into the breast to excite an ultrasonic response in the breast;

a cylindrical mount moveably mounted around the upper portion of the cylindrical body side wall, wherein each of said plurality of transducers is mounted on the mount; and

a motor for rotating the mount with respect to the cylinder body for simultaneously rotating each transducer of the plurality of transducers about the axis of the cylindrical body.

2. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cylindrical body defines

an interior shaped having an inner diameter and a length, and wherein the length is selectively adjustable thereby permitting selective adjustment of a volume of the interior.

3. A system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising an electromagnetic source positioned at one end of the cylindrical body for directing electromagnetic energy into the interior, wherein the electromagnetic source is adapted to produce electromagnetic energy in at least one frequency band selected from a group of frequency bands consisting of a radiofrequency band, a microwave band, a visible light band, and an infrared light band.

4. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a line.

5. A system as set forth in claim 4 wherein the line of transducers is aligned with an axis of the cylindrical body.

6. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a helix.

7. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in an array.

8. A system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a first gear operatively connected to the motor; and

a second gear meshed with the said first gear and operatively connected to the mount.

9. A system as set forth in claim 8 wherein:

said first gear comprises a worm screw; and

said second gear comprises a worm gear.

10. A system as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a seal positioned between the mount and the support to prevent fluid from passing between the mount and the support.

11. A system as set forth in claim 10 wherein acoustic coupling fluid fills a chamber formed between the mount and the cylindrical body.

12. A system as set forth in claim 11 further comprising a subsystem for filling the chamber with acoustic coupling fluid and draining acoustic coupling fluid from the chamber.

13. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the mount includes an acoustical absorbing material disposed on an inner surface thereof.

14. A system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the support includes an acoustical absorbing material disposed on a lower surface thereof.