Health services advise screening to find breast cancer early, but ultrasound images can be unclear for women with dense breast tissue. Dense tissue scatters sound and creates acoustic clutter, so a benign fluid cyst can look gray and be mistaken for a solid mass.
Researchers report a new signal-processing method for ultrasound that can tell fluid from solid masses. In initial tests with patients, doctors identified masses correctly 96% of the time with the new method, compared with 67% using conventional ultrasound tools.
The system also gives a number score for each mass and uses a threshold to flag worrisome cases. The method could cut false positives, follow-up exams, and biopsies.
Difficult words
- screening — medical tests to find disease early
- dense — thick or closely packed tissue
- clutter — extra echoes that make images unclear
- benign — not cancer and not dangerous
- biopsy — removal of tissue to check for diseasebiopsies
- threshold — a set number to decide action
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Would you want a test that gives a number score for a health problem? Why or why not?
- How could fewer false positives help patients?
- Have you ever had a medical screening? What was your experience?
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