Method and apparatus for breast imaging and tumor detection using modal vibration analysis

摘要

A system for using Doppler modulation parameters for producing an estimation of the vibration amplitude of an object under investigation is disclosed in which a low frequency vibration source is used to force the oscillation of the object under investigation and a coherent or pulsed ultrasound imaging system is utilized to detect the spatial distribution of the vibration amplitude of the object in real-time. The reflected Doppler shifted waveform generated by reflecting the ultrasound waves off of the vibrating object under investigation is used to compute the vibration amplitude and frequency of the object using two alternative methods, either on a frequency domain estimator basis or on a time domain estimator basis. The system may also be utilized for breast imaging and tumor detection. By conforming the breast to a regular geometry, exciting specific vibrational eigenmodes, and analyzing the Doppler modulation parameters, the inherent shear and longitudinal wave parameters of breast tissue can be calculated. These are useful for detection of tumors and other abnormalities.