Background: Ultrasound propagation velocity was measured experimentally in normal, fibroadenoma and ductal carcinoma breast tissues, in order to distinguish normal breast tissue from tumors.

Materials and methods: In quantitative measurements of ultrasound velocity, 403 breast tissue images were selected, comprising 130 normal breast tissue, 130 fibroadenoma, and 143 ductal carcinoma tumors. The cases were implanted in breast tissue mimicking materials and ultrasonic images (A-mode) at 35 ° C were processed and evaluated.

Results: It was observed that ultrasound propagation velocity is an important factor for distinguishing in vitro specimens of fibroadenoma and ductal carcinoma from normal tissue (P-value<0.005). Evaluation of ultrasound velocities showed that from normal breast tissue, fibroadenoma and ductal carcinoma, ultrasound velocity increases respectively. The discriminant functions of types of lesions, based on ultrasound velocity, have been formulated by discriminant analysis. The results indicate that probability of discrimination, sensitivity and specificity for tumors and normal breast tissues are 72, 60 and 100 percents at 35 ° C. With measuring ultrasound velocities, we can distinguish normal breast tissue of from ductal carcinoma and fibroadenoma masses (with the probability of 100%).