Breast cancer screening with adjunctive ultrasound mammography

A method of ultrasound examination of a patient's breast, comprising:

• compressing the patient's breast along a compression direction by exerting a compressive force;
• acquiring image data representing a plurality of thin-slice ultrasound images by scanning the patient's breast in an automated scanning process in a scanning direction with an ultrasound transducer that is long in a direction transverse to the scanning direction, wherein:
• said thin-slice images conform to respective planes that are generally along the compression direction;
• and
• each of said thin-slice images represents an image of a thin slice of the patient's breast;
• computer-processing the image data representing said thin-slice images into image data representing a plurality of thick-slice images that are fewer in number than said thin slices, wherein:
• said thick-slice images conform to respective planes that are transverse to said compression direction;
• and
• each of said thick-slice images represents a thick slice of the patient's breast that is thicker than a slice represented by one of said thin-slice images;
• and
• displaying a plurality of said thick-slice images on a computerized display to thereby present for viewing medical information regarding the patient's breast in fewer displayed images than if said thin-slice images were displayed, and where each displayed image contains more information than a single thin-slice image.