Skin lesions assessment using attenuating and statistical properties of the backscattered ultrasound

While the needle biopsy is still the gold standard in skin cancer diagnosis there is a growing interest in application of the high frequency ultrasounds for the skin lesions detection and their thickness assessment. The quantitative ultrasound can provide additional information, potentially helpful in diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of the attenuating and statistical properties of the backscattered ultrasounds for the skin tissue structure characterization. The paper presents the classification of the healthy skin and the skin lesions (BCC-basal cell carcinoma and AK-actinic keratosis). For patients with BCC the attenuation coefficient was significantly higher than for the healthy ones. Also, precancerous skin lesions revealed increased attenuation. The statistical properties were different for BCC comparing to AK lesions and healthy skin.