News | Press Releases

December 1, 2008

TOSHIBA SHOWCASES NEW WOMEN'S ULTRASOUND IMAGING TECHNIQUES AND TRANSDUCER AT RSNA

New Techniques Increase Detection of Breast Lesions and Aid Diagnosis

CHICAGO Nov. 30, 2008-To help improve diagnostic confidence in breast imaging and women's health, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. has developed a new and exclusive ultrasound technique - MicroPure™, which helps physicians detect breast lesions and micro-calcifications more clearly. In addition, Toshiba will also be showcasing its new 18MHz high resolution Dynamic Micro Slice transducer for breast imaging, as well as its quantitative sonoelastography suite ElastoQ (Works in progress in the USA) and Spatio-Temporal Image Correlation (STIC). Toshiba will showcase these advances at this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, Nov. 30 - Dec. 5, 2008 (Booth #3429, South Hall).

"Increasing the ability to use ultrasound to image the breast is a significant development," said Gordon Parhar, director, Ultrasound Business Unit, Toshiba. "We believe these advances will benefit many women across the country."

MicroPure and Elastography Techniques

Toshiba's MicroPure is helping physicians detect micro-calcifications using ultrasound, an imaging technique that is less strenuous on the technician and the patient than mammography, the current gold standard. MicroPure is a promising new technique, exclusive to Toshiba, which could help improve the quality of care.

Elasto-Q is a non-invasive medical imaging technique that evaluates tumors based on their stiffness (elasticity) compared to normal tissue. The tissue is examined while it is slightly compressed and decompressed. Cancerous tissue tend to be have a significantly lower elasticity than healthy tissue. Toshiba's method is highly reproducible.

Dynamic Micro Slice Transducer

Additionally, Toshiba developed a new high frequency, 18 MHz Dynamic Micro Slice transducer for imaging superficial structures and identifying lesions. The extremely wideband transducer offers very precise focusing in all directions and a high versatility for a variety of clinical applications. It is compatible with Differential Tissue Harmonics to deliver the finest image quality available in the market.

The new Dynamic Micro Slice transducer is available on the Toshiba Aplio™
XG Version 3.0 and above.

STIC Ultrasound Technique

In addition to showcasing breast imaging techniques, Toshiba will be highlighting its new gating technique to assess the fetal heart. Using STIC, data is acquired via an automatic volume acquisition capturing a high number of 2D frames in a volume set. The resulting volume image displays a loop of the beating fetal heart. Because there is 3D information behind each frame, scan planes can be moved, rotated and manipulated. Together with Cavity Imaging, where hollow structures are displayed as solid and the tissue is removed, STIC may be beneficial in the detection of fetal heart pathologies.

*MicroPure and Aplio are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.