Breast Lesions Evaluated by Color-Coded Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) Imaging

Abstract The goal of our study was to investigate the value of color-coded Virtual Touch tissue imaging (VTI) using acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technology in the characterization of breast lesions and to compare it with conventional ultrasound (US). Conventional US and color-coded VTI were performed in 196 solid breast lesions in 196 consecutive women (age range 17–91 y; mean 48.17 ± 14.46 y). A four-point scale VTI score was assigned for each lesion according to the color pattern both in the lesion and in the surrounding breast tissue. The mean VTI score was significantly higher for malignant lesions (3.80 ± 0.66, range 1–4) than for benign ones (2.02 ± 1.20, range 1–4) ( p p  = 0.0021 and p