
The 9th March against Cancer will be this Sunday in Zaragoza
12 June, 2024
The last day of the Patient and Resident program will feature psychologist Pilar Paúl Garasa
14 June, 2024The European QUSTom project incorporates a new modality of medical imaging, based on 3D ultrasound and supercomputing, which will serve to complement current techniques that use X-rays, such as mammograms.
This new technology, safe for patients, may be especially beneficial in women with dense breast tissue
El breast cancer It is one of the most common tumors in the world, with 2,3 million women diagnosed in 2020 and 700.000 deaths due to this disease during the same year, according to the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM). About half of all cases affect women who have no specific risk factors other than sex and age.
El European project QUSTom, under the coordination of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), aims to introduce a new modality of medical imaging based on 3D tomographic ultrasounds and supercomputing. Currently, clinical validation with patients has begun for the early detection of this tumor at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital.
This new technique could revolutionize your diagnosis, since it is harmless for women and offers a more complete picture from a functional and multiparametric point of view. In the coming weeks, volunteers will be recruited to participate in this initiative.
Unlike traditional ultrasound devices used in gynecology, which provide real-time images, this prioritizes maximum image quality to improve diagnostic accuracy. It not only aims to complement and optimize breast cancer detection, but also potentially replace current methods, such as mammograms, which use x-rays.
Unique technology in the world
For imaging, a 3D ultrasound computed tomography machine (3D USCT III), designed and built by the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) in Germany, will be used. It is the only complete device of these characteristics in the world.
With a 3D hemispherical aperture consisting of 2.304 individual transducers, acting as transmitters and receivers, it is used to examine breast tissue for pathological changes. The KIT has worked on the development of additional prototypes, but the first to undergo validation with patients is the one currently in Barcelona.
Once all the data has been collected, it will be reconstructed using the 3D full-wave inversion algorithm and transformed into high-resolution medical images using the power of the MareNostrum5 supercomputer, at the BSC.
Digital twin of breast tissue
With the MareNostrum 5 supercomputer, around 50.000 ultrasound wave simulations will be performed for each reconstructed image. In 2D this problem is not very challenging and can be computed in a few Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), in a conventional cloud. In 3D, however, it becomes gigantic, so much so that until today no one has applied the best image reconstruction techniques like those that will be used in this clinical validation.
Josep de la Puente, coordinator of QUSTom, explains that, at its core, the project builds a digital twin of the breast tissue and the ultrasound measurement device. This replicates any ultrasound emission emitted by the physical device used by the radiologist.
“Consequently, we can acquire not only a post-processing image, but a complete three-dimensional map that details the properties of the tissue in each pixel,” he says.
“This new diagnostic tool will allow us to offer a more complete image from a functional and multiparametric point of view, avoiding the use of ionizing radiation and improving the comfort of women during their annual radiological examination, in order to detect breast cancer early,” stands out Ana María Rodríguez Arana, head of the Women's Radiology Service at the Vall d'Hebron Hospital.
Harmless to women
Unlike other tests such as mammograms, the exam is painless and more comfortable for the patient. In it, the patient is placed face down on a bed, while her breast is immersed in a container filled with water at a temperature of 36.5 ° C. Ultrasound is then used to take data from each breast separately, which is transferred to a computer.
The procedure lasts approximately 3 minutes per breast and, in a matter of hours and after thousands of simulations, the software generates real, high-quality 3D images to be analyzed by doctors.
The technology has wide application, but may be particularly beneficial for people with dense breast tissue, which represents 40% of women worldwide, according to the Spanish Society of Senology and Breast Pathology (SESPM).
Source: BSC