Ultrasonic examination of the breast has been a valuable diagnostic tool for more than half a century since J.J. Wild, T. Wagai, and others ?rst used it in 1950. The ?rst Int- national Congress on the Ultrasonic Examination of the Breast (ICUEB) was convened in Philadelphia in 1979 by Goldberg (United States), Wells (United Kingdom), Wagai (Japan), Kobayashi (Japan), and Kossoff (Australia). Further congresses in the series have taken place every other year to discuss related theoretical and clinical discov- ies. These meetings led to the founding of the International Association for Breast Ultrasound (IABU) in 1991, and have contributed to improving ultrasonic exami- tion techniques and the associated medical bene?ts. The 13th ICUEB was held in Kyoto, Japan, in April 2003. International events at that time-the military operations in Iraq and the SARS outbreaks in several countries- threatened attendance; however, only one oral presentation and one poster presen- tion had to be canceled, and an impressive 98% of our schedule proceeded as planned. Over the three days of the congress, participants made signi?cant contributions through presentations and discussions, and we moved closer to a global mutual understanding.