Ultrasound System Designed to Improve Breast and High-Risk Ob/Gyn Imaging

New ultrasound technology has a women's imaging configuration that includes elastography, MicroPure, a Dynamic Micro Slice matrix transducer, and four-dimensional (4D) improvements. Elastography provides a visual representation of a breast lesion's elasticity following manual compression. Because malignant breast tissue has less elasticity than benign tissue, elastography reveals more clinical detail and enables the ability to classify suspicious lesions noninvasively.

To help meet the needs of healthcare providers administering women's imaging, Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) introduced a women's imaging configuration for the Aplio XG at the 2010 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, IL, USA, November 28-December 3, 2010. Aplio XG's women's imaging configuration is designed to support a range of women's imaging needs, from everyday breast imaging to high-risk ob/gyn/perinatology, ultrasound-guided biopsies, and fetal exams.

"Toshiba developed the Aplio XG women's imaging configuration to make exams faster, safer, and more accurate,” said Tomohiro Hasegawa, director, ultrasound business unit, Toshiba. "This dedicated women's imaging system can address a range of clinical conditions, making it a multifunctional tool for today's demanding ultrasound environment.”

A Toshiba exclusive technology, MicroPure, potentially aids in the identification of microcalcifications--tential markers for malignancy in breast exams. Whereas a microcalification-biopsy is a time-intensive procedure that can take up to two hours, MicroPure better visualizes calcifications--streamlining the process to be performed in 15 to 20 minutes, saving the patient time and potentially allowing hospitals to diagnose and treat more patients in less time.

Dynamic micro slice provides excellent contrast resolution and image uniformity throughout the entire field-of-view. Dynamic Micro Slice's ultra-wide band 18-MHz high frequency linear and Dynamic Micro Slice transducers allow focusing not only in the lateral and axial planes, but also in the depth or elevation plane. Micro Slice technology provides variable slice thickness, so even small lesions can be captured more accurately in both shallow regions and in the far field.

4D Improvements enables clinicians to see all dimensions of the anatomy being imaged more clearly and accurately. During biopsies, 4D imaging allows clinicians to view all planes for more precise guiding of the biopsy needle and exact visualization of the biopsy path.

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