Patent ID: 8886291

Claim:
A method for imaging tissue using a dual imaging probe, comprising: transmitting acoustic signals from an ultrasound transducer through at least some metal electrodes of an array of electrodes into a tissue; receiving reflected acoustic signals through at least one electrode of the electrodes; transducing the reflected acoustic signals into transduced electrical signals; sending the transduced electrical signals as ultrasound data to an electronic system; transmitting electrical current through a first subset of the electrodes of an electrical impedance imaging (EII) overlay into a tissue, the EII overlay comprising a plurality of electrodes; measuring parameters selected from the group consisting of electrical current and electrical voltage at each electrode of a second subset of the electrodes of the EII overlay; sending the measured electrical parameters as EII data to the electronic system; and analyzing and co-registering the ultrasound data and the EII data to create at least one tomographic image of the tissue wherein the tomographic images are constructed by: extracting regions from the ultrasound data, the ultrasound data obtained simultaneously with the EII data and comprising images; constructing a finite element model of the tissue, the finite element model having impedance parameters at each node of the model; constraining the model with the regions extracted from the ultrasound data; and determining impedance at nodes of the model such that simulation of the model matches measured EII data.