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The latest Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology article shows the ARFI imaging technique was able to move soft tissues in the body on the order of 10 microns (millionths of a meter) in a way that provided information about various tissue structures' stiffnesses and other mechanical properties.

These differences were revealed both in brightness variations in the ARFI images and in the time it took for tissues to recover following application of the pushing beams. The goal for ARFI imaging in the breast is to differentiate between benign solid lesions and malignant ones in order to reduce the number of biopsies performed on benign breast abnormalities, she said.

ARFI images of human breast, bicep, thyroid and abdominal tissues were all evaluated. While the pushing beams had the potential to produce elevated temperatures in those tissues, the beams' short durations maintained temperature increases at less than 0.2 degrees Celsius, which is well within acceptable guidelines, the article said.

"The intensities and application times of the pushing pulses used for ARFI imaging are safe, and will not result in an increase in risk to the patient over that associated with conventional diagnostic (ultrasound) imaging," the authors wrote.

"Although these findings are preliminary, they present several opportunities for ARFI imaging, and indicate that this method holds considerable clinical promise," their article concluded. Soo is now conducting further clinical studies at Duke Medical Center.

Another potentially promising area is employing ARFI to examine the stiffness of arteries, as well as to detect deep vein clots, or th
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Contact: Monte Basgall
monte.basgall@duke.edu
919-681-8057
Duke University Medical Center
8-Apr-2002