Phantom image results of an optimized full 3D USCT

A promising candidate for improved imaging of breast cancer is ultrasound computer tomography (USCT). Current experimental USCT systems are still focused in elevation dimension resulting in a large slice thickness, limited depth of field, loss of out-of-plane reflections, and a large number of movement steps to acquire a stack of images. 3D USCT emitting and receiving spherical wave fronts overcomes these limitations. We built an optimized 3D USCT with nearly isotropic 3D PSF, realizing for the first time the full benefits of a 3D system. In this paper results of the 3D point spread function measured with a dedicated phantom and images acquired with a clinical breast phantom are presented. The point spread function could be shown to be nearly isotropic in 3D, to have very low spatial variability and fit the predicted values. The contrast of the phantom images is very satisfactory in spite of imaging with a sparse aperture. The resolution and imaged details of the reflectivity reconstruction are comparable to a 3 Tesla MRI volume of the breast phantom. Image quality and resolution is isotropic in all three dimensions, confirming the successful optimization experimentally.