Objective: The aim of our study was to make the qualitative and quantitative analysis to breast lesions using acoustic radiation force impulses (ARFI), and assess the diagnostic value of ARFI for differentiation between benign and malignant solid breast masses, meanwhile evaluate the influences of ARFI with breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) of suspicious masses. Methods: Seventy-five women with 86 breast lesions underwent conventional breast ultrasound examination. Then B-mode BI-RADS features and assessments were recorded and standard breast US supplemented by ARFI elastographic examination were repeated. The data were recorded and analyzed as following: area ratio of breast lesion, the shear-wave velocity, the ratio of the shear-wave velocity between lesions and surrounding normal tissues, and according to the elastographic data reconsidered the BI-RADS category, all the results have been correlated with pathological results and make statistical evaluations of ARFI for differentiation between benign and malignant solid breast masses. Meantime our study has correlated the adjusted BI-RADS category of suspicious breast lesions with the pathological results and made assessment. Results: Thirty-eight patients were malignant breast carcinoma (31 invasive ductal carcinoma, 5 intraductal carcinoma in situ, 2 medullary carcinoma, 2 invasive lobular carcinoma), 48 patients were benign breast lesions (23 fibroadenoma, 12 benign nodular hyperplasia, 5 phyllodes tumor, 6 adenosis, 2 intraductal papilloma). Underwent conventional breast ultrasound exam, 42 cases were BI-RADS category 3, 23 cases were BI-RADS category 4. When adding elastographic data, 46 cases were BI-RADS category 3 and 20 cases were BI-RADS category 4. Compared with pathological results showed for both the specificity of BIRADS features and the area under ROC curve has risen. Virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI) and virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) data showed the area ratio (AR) between elastographic lesions area and B-mode lesions area, SWV (maximal shear-wave velocity of lesions), R-SWV (shear-wave velocity ratio between lesions and surrounding normal tissues) in benign breast lesions were lower than those in malignant lesions which has statistical significance and the cut-off point were 1.1, 4.65 m/s, 5.18 respectively. Conclusion: The ARFI elastography can provide the reliable qualitative and quantitative analysis about hardness of breast lesions, supply the new BI-RADS category features to suspicious breast masses and serve as an effective diagnostic tool for differentiation between benign and malignant solid masses. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.