Fig. 6

Preliminary mULM results from breast cancer patients. CEUS measurements were performed with a conventional US device and phospholipid MB. Scale bars = 10 mm. In a B-mode and mULM images of the patient with the HER2 positive breast carcinoma are shown. mULM visualizes in detail the tumor vascular pedicle on the bottom side of the tumor that branches into smaller vessels which are distributed heterogeneously throughout the tumor, slightly denser on the right-hand side. In b B-mode and mULM images of a triple negative breast carcinoma in a patient treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy are presented. Measurement were performed before (first row), and after the first (second row), the second (third row), and the third cycle of chemotherapy (fourth row). The first column shows B-mode images with the tumor borders highlighted by the red polygon, the second column displays the mULM velocity maps and the third column indicates the mULM direction maps. At the baseline measurement, the tumor vascularization was present mainly in the peripheral areas, and only modestly in the tumor core without showing any dominant direction. After the first cycle of treatment, the tumor shrinked and vascularization appeared more homogeneous with only one avascular part at the bottom side of the tumor. After the second and third cycle of treatment, the tumor volume further decreased, while the level of vascularization remained stable