Dr. Kevin Kelly, MD
The Inventor of SonoCine AWBUS
Dr. Kevin Kelly, a breast radiologist and the former medical director of Breast Ultrasound Center, is one of the world’s leading authorities on the use of ultrasound to detect small, easily curable breast cancer in women with dense-breast tissue and/or implants.
Dr. Kevin Kelly was the Director of Breast imaging at Huntington Memorial Hospital and Hill Breast Center (renamed Hunnington-Hill Breast Center) in Pasadena for 20 years. Dr. Kelly began conducting clinical research on the discovery and characterization of breast cancer by ultrasound, and in 1997 began his journey to develop SonoCine Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound. His article, Breast Cancer Detection Using Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound and Mammography in Radiographically Dense Breasts published in European Radiology journal and has been recognized as the second-most-cited article in that journal in 2010.
In 1998, Dr. Kelly invented the technology, SonoCine AWBUS and in 2000, using this modality, he found his first mammographically occult cancers. In 2008 SonoCine AWBUS received FDA clearance. For 30 years, Dr. Kelly has been conducting clinical research on the discovery and diagnosis of breast cancer by ultrasound and has published and lectured extensively. His first publication in this field was a 1996 monograph, “Sonographic Evaluation of Benign and Malignant Breast Lesions.”
SonoCine Technology
Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (AWBUS™)
What is SonoCine AWBUS™?
The SonoCine Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (SonoCine AWBUS™) is a computer-guided ultrasound system designed to be used in addition to your traditional mammogram. It was designed to provide greater visual detail of breast tissue, especially for women with dense breast tissue or implants where mammograms may have difficulty providing clear, detailed images.
The SonoCine AWBUS™ examination is FDA cleared for all dense-breasted women, women with implants and women who have had any type of breast intervention such as a biopsy, lumpectomy, mastectomy. Unlike other ultrasound examinations, this exam provides whole breast coverage, which includes your underarm, clavicle, in-between your breasts,the sides of your breasts and all the way back to your chest wall.
How accurate is SonoCine AWBUS™?
In clinical trials, Breast cancer detection doubled from 23 to 46 in 6,425 studies using AWBU with mammography, resulting in an increase in diagnostic yield from 3.6 per 1,000 with mammography alone to 7.2 per 1,000 by adding AWBU. The number of detected invasive cancers 10 mm or less in size tripled from 7 to 21 when AWBU findings were added to mammography. Conclusion: AWBU resulted in significant cancer detection improvement compared with mammography alone (Kelly et. al., 2009).
Dr. Kelly was one of the first radiologists in Southern California to use ultrasound as a detection and diagnostic tool for breast cancer, working tirelessly to develop the technology, creating the SonoCine AWBUS™ for accurate screening of women with dense tissue or breast implants. SonoCine AWBUS™ was developed to detect the lesions that are most frequently missed with mammography, including small, invasive breast cancers in women with dense breast tissue or implants.
What to expect for SonoCine AWBUS™ procedure?
SonoCine AWBUS™ uses ultrasound, which is just sound waves that you can’t hear. Ultrasound is safe for an unborn baby and therefore, safe for your breasts. Perhaps the most important difference between the SonoCine AWBUS™ exam and others is that the images acquired are reviewed in the form of a movie instead of still pictures. Unlike mammography where cancer appears white on white dense-breast tissue, ultrasound shows cancer as dark spots that seem to pop out on the screen making it much easier for your radiologist to see.
When the exam is completed, the SonoCine AWBUS™ technology will have captured between 2,000 and 5,000 images to form an ultrasound movie, or Sono (sound)…Cine (movie), for the Radiologist to review. Unlike others, the SonoCine AWBUS™ is designed to provide you with a fully documented, quality controlled examination of all your breast tissue. This way your primary care physician can compare last year’s to this year’s exam, to see what changes may have occurred.
The Benefits of SonoCine
Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound
Early detection is a critical aspect of effectively managing breast cancer, as it allows for timely intervention and improves the chances of successful treatment. SonoCine Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound (AWBUS) is an advanced imaging technology that offers numerous benefits in the early detection of breast cancer, such as:
