Comparative Study of Qualitative and Quantitative CEUS for Identifying Benign and Malignant Breast Lumps

The tumor angiogenesis is the development of a new vascular network out of the preexisting vessels and is considered essential towards the progression of solid tumors. The ultrasound imaging of tumor vessel has gained the increasing interest in the tumor search during recent years (Fleischer, 2000; Ricci et al., 2007). The conventional ultrasound (US) is a commonly used imaging modality in the detection of breast lesions (Boonlikit, 2013; Wang et al., 2013). However, the sensitivity of conventional Doppler ultrasound is low towards the detection of flow in small tumor vessels. Breast lesion characterization based on Doppler ultrasound flow measurements has produced mixed results, because of the overlap among the flow measurements in benign and malignant tumors (Taylor et al., 2002). The contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imaging with microbubble contrast agents has created a significant opportunity towards the visualisation of microcirculation, and made it possible to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional US techniques. In particular, the application of second-generation contrast agents, such as SonoVue, could facilitate the continuous and dynamic observation and research of tumor vascular perfusion (Wang et al., 2007). However, the final diagnosis of CEUS still