MicroPure

MicroPure is a unique technology that can assist you in confirming micro calcifications, a potential marker for malignancy in breast tumors.

Toshiba America Medical Systems (Tustin, Calif.) introduced a  new advances for ultrasound imaging of the breast: MicroPure, an algorithm that aids in the detection of microcalcifications,  which enhances imaging of superficial structures and helps identify lesions.


“MicroPure is an adapted filter we put onto the image to burn out bright echoes so we can better visualize calcifications,” Erin Owen, Toshiba senior manager for clinical marketing in ultrasound, explains. “Ultrasound has never been really good at looking at microcalcifications. MicroPure puts a color on it to bring out the brighter echoes.”

MicroPure is available on Aplio 400 and Aplio 500.

Owen says the technique aids in the biopsy of microcalcifications, which can be a time-consuming and laborious process. “Calcifications are often cancerous, but there’s no way to tell without a stereotactic biopsy,” she notes. “The procedure can take up to two hours, and it’s not very pleasant. With MicroPure, we can do an ultrasound-guided biopsy and be done in 15 to 20 minutes.”

Cey Weiss, MD, medical director of the Comprehensive Breast Care Center at Mercy Hospital, Chicago, Ill., has been using MicroPure for close to a year. He notes, “We like to use ultrasound for calcifications because it’s so much easier to go after them on an ultrasound than to have the patient lie on her stomach for two hours. When we have a case that we think is a good candidate for biopsy, we’ll use ultrasound.”