Ground breaking ultrasound technology improves breast cancer diagnosis

Dorchester based Precision Acoustics has collaborated with the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to improve the sensing and scanning used to detect the early signs of breast cancer. The work is based on ultrasonic technology looked to overcome the problems of diagnosing breast cancer using conventional x-ray mammography and ultrasound scans.

The project called Phased Insensitive Ultrasound Computed Tomography (PIUCT) has seen Precision Acoustics develop and manufacture a patented detection method that exploits pyrolytic sensor technology.

The detection method developed by the company converts the heat produced by the absorption of ultrasound into voltage signals that are eventually combined to form an image of the acoustic properties of breast tissue. The new method of detecting ultrasound should produce images with fewer imaging artefacts.

Gary Livingstone, MD of Precision Acoustics comments further: “This new method of diagnosing breast cancer will be safer and lower cost than the screening techniques currently used and the results should be easier for clinicians to interpret.”

The work is supported by Innovate UK and other collaborators including Designworks and the University Hospital of Bristol.

www.acoustics.co.uk