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The KIT 3D USCT was tested in a pilot study on ten patients. The primary goals of the pilot study were to test the USCT device, the data acquisition protocols, the image reconstruction methods and the image fusion techniques in a clinical environment. The study was conducted successfully; the data acquisition could be carried out for all patients with an average imaging time of six minutes per breast. First reconstructions provide promising images. Overlaid volumes of the modalities show qualitative and quantitative information at a glance. The results led to further optimization of the system and the data acquisition protocol.

Ultrasound Computer Tomography (USCT) is a promising 3D modality for early breast cancer detection, which is expected to provide quantitative imaging. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the quantitative diagnostic value of the USCT images, i.e. sound speed and attenuation images, using X-ray mammograms as ground truth. For this purpose we applied our 2D/3D registration method, which is based on biomechanical modeling of the breast. Mammograms were segmented into fatty, glandular and tumorous tissue. For each tissue, the average sound speed and attenuation in the corresponding USCT images was calculated. Tumorous tissue could be separated from fatty and glandular tissue using a fixed absolute sound speed threshold in all regarded datasets. By combining sound speed and attenuation, the separation between fatty and glandular tissue could be improved. By overlaying sound speed and attenuation information on the mammogram, quantitative and morphological information can be combined for multimodal diagnosis. This may benefit early breast cancer detection in future.