Integrated microwave-ultrasound breast imaging system

A multi-modal imaging system comprising:

• a patient-receiving structure configured to host a patient in a static body position during and throughout a multi-modal imaging process;
• a receptacle secured and maintained in a statically held state at a fixed location supported proximate to the patient-receiving structure, and configured to receive and statically hold a body part of the patient in a static position inside said receptacle at said fixed location;
• an acoustic imaging fixture sized and shaped to accommodate said receptacle within an interior space of said acoustic imaging fixture in a working position of said acoustic imaging fixture that is configured to both physically engage with and encompass multiple sides of said receptacle, wherein said acoustic imaging fixture further comprises an array of acoustic transducers configured to be positioned in physical contact, in said working position of the acoustic imaging fixture, with the receptacle or the body part received therein, and which acoustic transducers are operable in said working position to transmit and receive acoustic signals through the body part for acoustic imaging thereof;
• and
• an electromagnetic imaging chamber also sized and shaped to accommodate said receptacle within an internal space of said electromagnetic imaging chamber in a working position of said electromagnetic imaging chamber that encompasses the receptacle at the fixed location proximate to the patient-receiving structure, said electromagnetic imaging chamber comprising an array of electromagnetic antennae that are positioned statically thereon at positions distributed around the internal space and are configured to transmit and receive electromagnetic signals in said internal space in the presence of said receptacle for electromagnetic imaging of said body part held statically therein;
• a chamber mover operable to move the electromagnetic imaging chamber, relative to both the patient-receiving structure and the fixed location of the receptacle, between the working position that encompasses the receptacle at the fixed location proximate to the patient-receiving structure, and a non-working position withdrawn away from the fixed location of the receptacle to a spaced distance therefrom to enable placement of the acoustic imaging fixture into its working position with the electromagnetic imaging chamber withdrawn;
• wherein:
• the receptacle is supported independently of the electromagnetic imaging chamber and the chamber mover so as to remain static at the fixed location throughout any movement of the electromagnetic imaging chamber by the chamber mover;
• the acoustic imaging fixture is configured for selective disengagement from the receptacle in non-disruptive relation to the statically held state, and the fixed location of, both the receptacle and the body part received therein, and said acoustic imaging fixture is further configured for withdrawal away from the receptacle, when disengaged therefrom, to a withdrawn state of external relationship to an electromagnetic imaging space that is instead independently encompassed by the electromagnetic imaging chamber when in the working position thereof;
• the chamber mover is operable to move the electromagnetic imaging chamber into the working position thereof in a state of the system in which the acoustic imaging fixture is in the withdrawn state thereof, such that the internal space of the electromagnetic imaging chamber, when moved into the respective working position thereof by the chamber mover, is unoccupied by the ultrasonic fixture, thereby enabling unobstructed electromagnetic imaging of the body part inside the receptacle;
• and
• the acoustic imaging fixture and the electromagnetic imaging chamber are configured to occupy their respective working positions at different acoustic and electromagnetic imaging stages of the multi-modal imaging process, among which the electromagnetic imaging stage is characterized by the working position of the electromagnetic imaging chamber and the withdrawn state of the acoustic imaging fixture, and the acoustic imaging stage is characterized by the working position of at least the acoustic imaging fixture, and the receptacle is configured to maintain the body part in a statically held condition inside the receptacle at the fixed location throughout a totality of the multi-modal imaging process, including the acoustic imaging stage, the electromagnetic imaging stage, and all transitional stages therebetween during which the acoustic imaging fixture and the electromagnetic imaging chamber are transitioned into and out of their respective working positions, whereby optimal image registration between electromagnetic and acoustic imaging data respectively collected during the electromagnetic and acoustic imaging stages is optimally enabled by the statically held condition of the body part throughout the totality of the multi-modal imaging process.