Design and evaluation of a prototype radio-ultrasound guided system for simultaneous, dual-modality intraoperative localization

Real-time intraoperative localization during breast cancer surgery is essential to ensure complete tumor resection. Unfortunately, limitations in existing single-modality devices result in high rates of revision surgeries. This research details the design and fabrication of a novel hybrid imaging system that mechanically couples a unique type of focused gamma probe with an ultrasound transducer to simultaneously acquire anatomical and functional images in real time. Compared to existing literature, phantom studies of our radio-ultrasound guided system revealed a substantial improvement in resolution (almost an order of magnitude better) while maintaining high sensitivity. The complementary information provided by precisely visualizing ‘hot’ radiolabeled tissues within the anatomy is expected to improve the accuracy of breast cancer surgery, leading to improved patient outcomes.