my first medical translational research role was for finding breast cancers using MRI rather than the usual mammograms the Midjourney Medical announcement got me thinking would their Ultrasound Computed Tomography help here
Breast phantom for testing USCT beam forming methods Ultrasound Computed Tomography Reflection Imaging with Coherence-Factor Beamforming for Breast Tumor Early Detection https://doi.org/10.3390/math12071106

ALT Breast phantom for testing USCT beam forming methods Ultrasound Computed Tomography Reflection Imaging with Coherence-Factor Beamforming for Breast Tumor Early Detection https://doi.org/10.3390/math12071106

Jun 18, 2026 · 10:33 AM UTC

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Above is a phantom, medical research teams use these to test new ideas and systems without the complications of human or animals being involved despite the plastic look they're not cheap, often costing thousands of $$$ as they are calibrated for repeatable, comparable tests
Experimental breast contrast evaluation phantom images DAS - delay-and-sum beamforming CF - coherence-factor beamforming Ultrasound Computed Tomography Reflection Imaging with Coherence-Factor Beamforming for Breast Tumor Early Detection https://doi.org/10.3390/math12071106

ALT Experimental breast contrast evaluation phantom images DAS - delay-and-sum beamforming CF - coherence-factor beamforming Ultrasound Computed Tomography Reflection Imaging with Coherence-Factor Beamforming for Breast Tumor Early Detection https://doi.org/10.3390/math12071106

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At some point though you've got to be able to work on real data Thankfully the research has already been done, surprisingly as far back as 2012 here are the results
A - T1 fat-saturated enhanced MRI B - USCT Breast Ultrasound Tomography Versus MRI for Clinical Display of Anatomy and Tumor Rendering: Preliminary Results https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.11.6910

ALT A - T1 fat-saturated enhanced MRI B - USCT Breast Ultrasound Tomography Versus MRI for Clinical Display of Anatomy and Tumor Rendering: Preliminary Results https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.11.6910

A - T1 MRI B - T2 MRI C - USCT Breast Ultrasound Tomography Versus MRI for Clinical Display of Anatomy and Tumor Rendering: Preliminary Results https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.11.6910

ALT A - T1 MRI B - T2 MRI C - USCT Breast Ultrasound Tomography Versus MRI for Clinical Display of Anatomy and Tumor Rendering: Preliminary Results https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.11.6910

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The conclusion is promising: "USCT is able to image and render breast tissues in a manner comparable to MRI" Links in Image descriptions
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even in it's CT form ultrasound is significantly lower cost and easier to maintain and install than MRI machines no highly powerful magnets to be cautious about no scary breathing sounds from the vibrating coils no expensive helium and maintenance days in the event of a quench
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ultrasound isn't easy though, my second translational research role was with prostate cancer treatment cancer is usually only visible in MRI, but it's too expensive to perform the treatment in MRI so
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pre-optive MRI is paired with a live ultrasound view to help guide clinicians to the target area of interest The challenge with ultrasound though is it uses sound, sound changes speed depending on what it's moving through Submarines use ultrasound which can travel up to 50km
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In medical you won't get a good image unless you're right next to the skin as air is not very dense For this reason gel is often used, but it's still possible to get echos and artefacts on the image Ultrasound CT solves this by imaging from all angles
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Imaging from all angles also lets it gather density information and so can be used to image cancer too gonna be amazing if medical imaging can be turned into a relaxing spa visit also perfect timing for @midjourney with the rise of longevity health spas
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