Identification of Benign and Malignant Breast Nodules Using Opalogram Ultrasonography: A Multicenter Study

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women and the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Therefore, early detection and timely treatment of breast cancer are of great significance to controlling and reducing breast cancer mortality. Breast ultrasound has been widely used in the detection of breast cancer, but ultrasound is highly dependent on the examiner in terms of technology, and the examination results are greatly affected by the examiner's subjectivity, which increases unnecessary surgery and punctures, causing great trouble to clinicians and patients. Moreover, the value of conventional ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of breast masses is still limited, while the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and elastic imaging has improved the accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis to varying degrees.

The recently developed ultrasound light scattering imaging technology is used in breast ultrasound imaging systems to assist in morphological analysis based on the description and final evaluation of the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS), providing a new way to distinguish benign and malignant breast nodules.

Ultrasonic light scattering imaging technology is a new functional imaging technology that integrates traditional B-type ultrasound imaging and light scattering tomography (DOT). It uses B-type ultrasound to locate lesions and uses DOT to measure the concentrations of total hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin and deoxygenated hemoglobin in diseased tissues based on the differences in the absorption rates of light of specific wavelengths in different tissues. It also measures the neovascularization at the tumor site and its potential local hypoxia stimulation. It introduces additional physiological information to current breast screening methods, often before morphological abnormalities. It can improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of breast cancer based on the characteristics of abnormal blood supply and oxygen consumption in lesions.