Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Blood Flow in Breast Tumors using Power Doppler Ultrasound

PURPOSE: Our study was performed to obtain additional information regarding the present diagnostic approaches in breast tumor diagnosis by investigating tumor vessels. We present a new method that helps to capture the morphologic features from power Doppler ultrasound images using a computer-aided system facilitating pixel relation analysis techniques in the region of interest (ROI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 45 solid breast tumors, including 18 benign and 27 malignant histologically proven cases, were studied using quantitative and qualitative parameters with extracted three-dimensional (3D) diagrams. We focused on pixel counting and on physiologic and pathophysiologic vascular analysis over time. P values less than 0.05 using the Wilcoxon, Mann and Whitney’s U-test were deemed statistically significant. RESULTS: One of the two quantitative values, the color range, showed a statistical significance for distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions by counting more pixels in malignant cases. We detected differences in the blood flow dynamics with a characteristic flow texture in 89 % of benign lesions and periodic oscillations which were identified with a diagnostic accuracy of 78 % in malignant cases. CONCLUSION: The preliminary results show that the proposed method using power Doppler imaging is feasible and can aid in the classification of breast tumors as benign or malignant.