Acousto-mechanical imaging with 3D printed ultrasound probe extension

Ultrasonic imaging and mechanical imaging are techniques for medical diagnoses for cancer and biopsy assistance in human breast tissue. Combining the two techniques could have a superior performance compared to both techniques alone. The implementation idea is to have a 3D printable structure in between an ultrasound probe and human tissue. Which deforms when the ultrasound probe is pressed to the tissue. For hard inclusions in the breast the structure should deform differently. The structure is box shaped and fluid filled. It is fluid filled because fluid should preserve the ultrasonic imaging resolution. The effective stiffness of the structure should be in between the stiffness of lesion and normal tissue. The effective stiffness can be approximated for small strain (up to 1%) by the equation for axial compression in 2D finite element analysis. For larger strains elongation of the beam should be considered.