FIELD

Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein relate to non-invasive medical imaging, and more particularly, to a membrane for a breast ultrasound scanning apparatus.

BACKGROUND

Volumetric ultrasound scanning of the breast may be used as a complementary modality for breast cancer screening. Volumetric ultrasound scanning usually involves the movement of an ultrasound transducer relative to a tissue sample and the processing of resultant ultrasound echoes to form a data volume representing at least one acoustic property of the tissue sample. Whereas a conventional two-dimensional x-ray mammogram only detects a summation of the x-ray opacity of individual slices of breast tissue over the entire breast, ultrasound can separately detect the sonographic properties of individual slices of breast tissue, and therefore may allow detection of breast lesions where x-ray mammography alone fails. Further, volumetric ultrasound offers advantages over x-ray mammography in patients with dense breast tissue (e.g., high content of fibroglandular tissues). Thus, the use of volumetric ultrasound scanning in conjunction with conventional x-ray mammography may increase the early breast cancer detection rate.

In one example, a full-field breast ultrasound (FFBU) scanning apparatus may be used to image breast tissue in one or more planes. One side of an at least partially conformable, substantially taut membrane or film sheet compresses the breast. A transducer translation mechanism maintains an ultrasound transducer in contact with the other side of the film sheet while translating the ultrasound transducer thereacross to scan the breast. Prior to initiating the scanning, a user of the scanning apparatus may place the ultrasound transducer on the patient tissue and apply a downward force on the transducer to compress the tissue in order to properly image the tissue. The membrane is permanently fixed to a hard-shell frame that attaches to the scanning apparatus, and is intended to be disposed after scanning the tissue of a patient. However, the cost of the membrane with a hard-shell frame may be prohibitive for such single-use. Further, the compression of the tissue against the plastic frame is often painful or uncomfortable for the patient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a system comprises an imaging assembly comprising an ultrasound transducer, a frame housing the imaging assembly, and a membrane directly and removably coupled to the frame. In this way, the cost of performing a scan with the imaging assembly may be reduced while the comfort for a patient being scanned with the imaging assembly is increased.

It should be understood that the brief description above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

