SonoCiné Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (AWBUS) was invented by Dr. Kevin Kelly, a radiologist of 34 years who was passionate about improving ultrasound technology in an effort to find the tiniest cancers often missed by mammography (especially in dense breast tissue). Not only does it find the earliest of invasive cancers in extremely dense breast tissue, there is no squishing, no pain, no radiation, no IV, and no contrast dye.

What About 3-D Ultrasound?

Dr. Kevin Kelly replied in an email to this question: What is the difference with 3-D ultrasound?

“Invasive breast cancer is easily curable in its earliest stages (T1a & b), 10 mm or less.

Unfortunately 3-D ultrasound uses a 6 inch probe so that in the image created of a 5 mm cancer is 1/3 the diameter of the image on a 2 inch probe. Consequently the area of the image of the cancer is only 11% relative to the size of the same SonoCiné image. The large probe used in 3-D ultrasound also misses considerable tissue. However it is better than nothing.

Once DCIS has been located by mammography or physical examination, it usually can be seen by ultrasound. Dr. Marc Ryser from N.I.H. argued that DCIS is only important if it is accompanied by occult invasive cancer. Since SonoCiné is able to find the majority of 4 & 5 mm invasive cancers without the necessity of having to identify calcified DCIS, finding and removing DCIS may become less relevant.

What women can do to advance the cause is to demand AWBUS insurance screening coverage for all women with dense breasts on an annual basis. If that were done successfully, the knowledge of the existence of AWBUS would grow exponentially and the market place would take care of availability.”

US of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ in Radiology August 1, 2002, Woo Kyung Moon etal also found that ultrasound may be helpful in finding DCIS without calcifications.  Additionally, they suggest that sometimes ultrasound guided biopsies can be a valuable tool.

Berg’s April 4, 2012 JAMA article concluded, “The addition of screening ultrasound or MRI to mammography in women at increased risk of breast cancer resulted in not only a higher cancer detection yield but also an increase in false-positive findings.”