Abstract: A system for providing scanning medium for scanning a volume of tissue comprising: an inner chamber that contains the scanning medium; a transducer mounted to the inner chamber and configured to move along a motion path, with the inner chamber, in scanning the volume of tissue; an outer chamber concentrically aligned about the inner chamber to guide the inner chamber along the motion path; a piston module defining a base surface within the inner chamber, the piston module comprising a medium inlet and a medium outlet for adjusting an amount of the scanning medium within the inner chamber; a detection subsystem coupled to the base surface of the piston module; and an actuator comprising a stationary portion mounted to the piston module and a moving portion coupled to the inner chamber and configured to produce motion of the inner chamber along the motion path.

Abstract: This application presents a system and related methods that analyze a volume of tissue using ultrasound waveform tomography imaging. By using frequency-domain waveform tomography techniques and a gradient descent algorithm, the system can reconstruct the sound speed distributions of a volume of tissue, such as breast tissue, of varying densities with different types of lesions. By allowing sound speed to have an imaginary component that characterizes sound attenuation, the system can classify the different types of lesions with a fine granularity.

Abstract: A method for characterizing tissue of a patient, including receiving acoustic data derived from the interaction between the tissue and the acoustic waves irradiating the tissue; generating a morphology rendering of the tissue from the acoustic data, in which the rendering represents at least one biomechanical property of the tissue; determining a prognostic parameter for a region of interest in the rendering, in which the prognostic parameter incorporates the biomechanical property; and analyzing the prognostic parameter to characterize the region of interest. In some embodiment, the method further includes introducing a contrast agent into the tissue; generating a set of enhanced morphology renderings of the tissue after introducing the contrast agent; determining an enhanced prognostic parameter from the enhanced morphology renderings; and analyzing the enhanced prognostic parameter.

Abstract: A method and system for imaging a volume of tissue and defining a tissue boundary comprising: receiving a baseline dataset representative of a first set of signals interacting with a medium; receiving a reconstruction dataset representative of a second set of signals interacting with the medium and the volume of tissue present in the medium; determining a set of direct emitter-receiver pairs, each defining a direct trajectory that does not pass through the volume of tissue; from the set of direct emitter-receiver pairs, determining a set of tangential emitter-receiver pairs, each defining a bounding vector comprising a tangent point along the tissue boundary; determining a set of interior pixels, of the reconstruction dataset, characterized by a set of pixel locations within the tissue boundary; and reconstructing pixels of the set of interior pixels, thereby transforming the baseline and the reconstruction datasets into an image rendering of the volume of tissue.

Abstract: A tissue positioning system for contouring a patient tissue volume includes an axially displaceable interface having a surface configured to engage a breast or other tissue volume. A low pressure source applies a partial low pressure to the surface of the displaceable interface to secure the tissue volume to the surface, and the axially displaceable interface is biased to pull and contour the tissue volume when the tissue volume is secured to the surface. The axially displaceable interface is typically mounted on a telescoping support and the biasing is provided by the same low pressure used to secure the tissue volume.

Abstract: A method of characterizing the pathological response of tissue to a treatment plan, including: obtaining a set of sequential morphology renderings of the tissue, wherein each rendering corresponds to a particular point in time during the treatment plan; generating a set of representative values of a biomechanical property of the tissue for the set of renderings, wherein each representative value is based on a corresponding rendering; determining a trend of the biomechanical property based on the set of representative values; and predicting response of the tissue to the treatment plan based on the trend of the biomechanical property.

Abstract: The system of one embodiment for imaging tissue includes ultrasound emitters configured to surround and emit acoustic waveforms toward the tissue, ultrasound receivers configured to surround and receive acoustic waveforms scattered by the tissue, and a processor configured for determining an observed differential time-of-flight (ToF) dataset and generating an acoustic speed rendering of the tissue based on the observed differential ToF dataset.

Abstract: A method for characterizing tissue of a patient, including receiving acoustic data derived from the interaction between the tissue and the acoustic waves irradiating the tissue; generating a morphology rendering of the tissue from the acoustic data, in which the rendering represents at least one biomechanical property of the tissue; determining a prognostic parameter for a region of interest in the rendering, in which the prognostic parameter incorporates the biomechanical property; and analyzing the prognostic parameter to characterize the region of interest. In some embodiment, the method further includes introducing a contrast agent into the tissue; generating a set of enhanced morphology renderings of the tissue after introducing the contrast agent; determining an enhanced prognostic parameter from the enhanced morphology renderings; and analyzing the enhanced prognostic parameter.

Abstract: A method for characterizing tissue of a patient, including receiving acoustic data derived from the interaction between the tissue and the acoustic waves irradiating the tissue; generating a morphology rendering of the tissue from the acoustic data, in which the rendering represents at least one biomechanical property of the tissue; determining a prognostic parameter for a region of interest in the rendering, in which the prognostic parameter incorporates the biomechanical property; and analyzing the prognostic parameter to characterize the region of interest. In some embodiment, the method further includes introducing a contrast agent into the tissue; generating a set of enhanced morphology renderings of the tissue after introducing the contrast agent; determining an enhanced prognostic parameter from the enhanced morphology renderings; and analyzing the enhanced prognostic parameter.

Abstract: A patient interface system for scanning a volume of tissue protruding from a patient, the system comprising: a base including a planar portion configured to support the patient in a prone configuration, and a frustoconical portion extending from the planar portion and defining a base aperture configured to receive the volume of tissue; and a support assembly configured to couple to the base, including a frame and a membrane retained in tension within the frame at a peripheral portion of the membrane, wherein the membrane defines a membrane aperture configured to align with the base aperture, and wherein the membrane is configured to deflect into the frustoconical portion of the base in response to the patient's weight. The system can further include an electrical subsystem including a pressure sensor array configured to generate signals in response to a pressure distribution resulting from the patient's weight at the patient interface system.

Abstract: A method for characterizing tissue of a patient, including receiving acoustic data derived from the interaction between the tissue and the acoustic waves irradiating the tissue; generating a morphology rendering of the tissue from the acoustic data, in which the rendering represents at least one biomechanical property of the tissue; determining a prognostic parameter for a region of interest in the rendering, in which the prognostic parameter incorporates the biomechanical property; and analyzing the prognostic parameter to characterize the region of interest. In some embodiment, the method further includes introducing a contrast agent into the tissue; generating a set of enhanced morphology renderings of the tissue after introducing the contrast agent; determining an enhanced prognostic parameter from the enhanced morphology renderings; and analyzing the enhanced prognostic parameter.

Abstract: A method for imaging a volume of tissue in a scan region, including: emitting, from transmitting transducers, acoustic waveforms toward the volume of tissue; detecting, with detecting transducers, a plurality acoustic signals derived from acoustic waveforms interacting with the volume of tissue; generating from the detected acoustic signals a plurality of variable attenuation maps, in which each variable attenuation map corresponds to acoustic signals detected by a respective detecting transducer and includes a plurality of variable attenuation coefficients mapped to the scan region; modifying at least a portion of the detected acoustic signals based on one or more variable attenuation maps; and generating a reflection rendering of the volume of tissue based on the modified acoustic signals.

Abstract: A system and method for performing an image-guided biopsy of a target mass of a volume of tissue comprising: a transducer array comprising a set of ultrasound emitters and a set of ultrasound receivers configured to generate a set of acoustic data based upon acoustic waveforms received from the volume of tissue, wherein the transducer array is configured to enable determination of a location of the target mass based on the set of acoustic data; a base proximate to the transducer array; a fixation plate coupled to the base and cooperating with the base and the transducer array to at least partially define an adjustable receiving space configured to receive the volume of tissue; and a guiding module coupled to the base and comprising an aperture configured to align a biopsy tool with the location of the target mass.

Abstract: An iterative method for calibrating a transducer array characterized by calibration parameters, based on time delay measurements between transducer pairs, comprising the steps of: creating a distance data set that includes pairwise distances between estimated positions of transducer; forming a time delay measurement data set that includes time delay measurements between transducer pairs; generating from the time delay measurement data set an estimate of at least one calibration parameter; modifying the time delay measurement data set and the distance data set based on the estimated calibration parameters; denoising the modified distance data set with an iterative algorithm; updating the estimated positions of transducers based on the denoised modified distance data set; and repeating at least a portion of the steps until the difference between the estimated positions of transducer pairs and updated estimated positions of transducers satisfies a stopping criterion.

Abstract: A system and method for imaging a volume of tissue comprising: a modular transducer array, configured to substantially surround the volume of tissue, emit acoustic waveforms toward the volume of tissue, and receive acoustic waveforms scattered by the volume of tissue, comprising a first and a second modular transducer subarray configured to couple to one another; a controller configured to control acoustic signals emitted by the first and the second modular transducer subarrays; an electronic subsystem, coupled to the modular transducer array, comprising a multiplexor and beam-forming elements and configured to receive a set of acoustic data from the first and the second modular transducer subarrays; and a processor configured to analyze the set of acoustic data, determine the distribution of at least one acoustomechanical parameter within the volume of tissue, and render an image of the volume of tissue based on the acoustomechanical parameter.

Abstract: A method and system for denoising acoustic travel times and imaging a volume of tissue comprising receiving a dataset representative of acoustic waveforms originating from an array of ultrasound emitters and received with an array of ultrasound receivers; for each ultrasound emitter in the array of ultrasound emitters, forming an empirical relative travel time matrix, from the dataset, including a set of relative empirical travel times, each relative empirical travel time corresponding to a pair of ultrasound receivers receiving an acoustic waveform, generating a denoised empirical relative travel time matrix, and extracting a set of denoised absolute travel times from the denoised empirical relative travel time matrix; and rendering an image of the volume of tissue based on an acoustomechanical parameter and the set of denoised absolute travel times corresponding to each ultrasound emitter in the array of ultrasound emitters.