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New Ultrasound Techniques—Applications in Internal Medicine

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomedical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2024 | Viewed by 5094

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Dana Stoian

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Guest Editor

Department of Endocrinology, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
Interests: endocrinology; elastography; viscosity; contrast-enhanced ultrasound; multiparametric evaluation; thyroid disease; renal disease; liver fibrosis; hyperparathyroidism
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute your recent research on the newest ultrasound applications, such as viscosity or the contrast-enhanced ultrasound technique, used in the diagnosis of liver fibrosis and diffuse thyroid disease, respectively, nodular pathology in the liver, thyroid or testes.

Currently, complementary applications to conventional ultrasounds are exceptional imaging techniques, using different advanced software. There is sufficient evidence regarding the successful contribution of elastography in different areas of internal medicine, such as the evaluation of liver fibrosis and risk stratification of thyroid and testicular nodules, which ultimately reduces the need for fine needle biopsies. Thus, new techniques have emerged, such as the novel viscosity evaluation and the contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, bringing new, additional data regarding the qualities of tissue, which impacts decision making in the medical environment.

From a clinical point of view, this Special Issue aims to provide information regarding the application of ultrasounds in decision-making processes.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but not limited to, the following:

Defining normal in visco technique;
Viscosity in diffuse thyroid disease;
Viscosity in diffuse liver disease;
Multiparametric ultrasound diagnosis of thyroid disease;
Multiparametric ultrasound diagnosis of parathyroid disease;
Multiparametric ultrasound diagnosis of renal disease;
Multiparametric ultrasound diagnosis of testicular pathology;
Clinical applications of CEUS.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Dana Stoian
Guest Editor

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Keywords

elastography
viscosity
contrast-enhanced ultrasound
multiparametric evaluation
thyroid disease
renal disease
liver fibrosis
hyperparathyroidism

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 3796 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strain Versus 2D Shear-Wave Elastography Parameters—Which Score Better in Predicting Thyroid Cancer?

by Andreea Borlea, Ioan Sporea, Alexandru Popa, Mihnea Derban, Laura Taban and Dana Stoian

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(21), 11147; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122111147 - 03 Nov 2022

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the diagnostic performance of strain elastography (SE) versus 2D shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) by providing a head-to-head comparison of the two methods. Ninety-four thyroid nodules were evaluated using conventional ultrasound (B-mode) and SE, namely, real-time elastography (RTE) with a Hitachi Preirus machine (Hitachi Inc., Tokyo, Japan) and consecutively, 2D-SWE with SuperSonic Mach30 equipment (Supersonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France). The results were compared in all cases to the pathology reports. Out of the 94 nodules, 29 (30.9%) were malignant. Both SE and 2D-SWE parameters proved to have excellent diagnostic quality, with comparable results. The mean elasticity index was the best parameter for the 2D-SWE (AUC 0.912); for a cut-off value of 30.5 kPa, it predicts thyroid malignancy with a sensitivity of 79.3%, specificity of 95.38%, NPV of 91.2% and PPV of 88.5%. The best parameter for SE was the strain ratio (cutoff > 3.9; sensitivity 82.7%; specificity 92.3%; AUC 0.905). When integrated in the ultrasound risk algorithm, both elastography methods improved the diagnostic performance: AUC 0.764 vs. 0.886 vs. 0.861 for B-modes: B-mode + 2D-SWE vs. B-mode + SE. We concluded that elastography adds diagnostic value in predicting malignancy, both when Hitachi RTE and SuperSonic 2D-SWE were used. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Ultrasound Techniques—Applications in Internal Medicine)

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12 pages, 2594 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Is Strain Elastography Useful in Diagnosing Chronic Autoimmune Thyroiditis in Children?

by Cristina Mihaela Cepeha, Corina Paul, Andreea Borlea, Renata Bende, Monica Simina Mihuta and Dana Stoian

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(17), 8881; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12178881 - 04 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1272

Abstract

Strain elastography (SE) determines the level of tissue stiffness and thus helps in the diagnosis and differentiation of various pathologies. This paper aims to study the elastographic differences between healthy thyroid parenchyma and ones affected by chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT) in children. We included in our study 52 children diagnosed with CAT and 22 children with no thyroid pathology. After clinic examination and biological tests, an ultrasound was performed followed by SE using a Hitachi Preirus machine with a 5–15 multi-frequency linear probe. The mean strain ratio (SR) values were significantly lower in the control group compared with the CAT group (0.68 ± 0.2 vs. 1.19 ± 0.25; p < 0.0001). A mean value above 0.9 was found predictive for CAT with 84.62% Sensitivity(Se), 95.45% Specificity (Sp), 97.8% Positive Predictive Value (PPV), 72.4% Negative Predictive Value (NPV), and area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC), 0.9. No differences were found between the two thyroid lobes. Also, we found no differences between girls and boys. Out of the 52 children with CAT, 39 were on therapy with levothyroxine. No differences were found between SR values in preexisting hypothyroid cases compared to euthyroid cases (1.24 ± 0.26 vs. 1.18 ± 0.25; p = 0.4615). Our results show that SE is a useful examination technique of children diagnosed with CAT, in accordance with other studies conducted on adults. This study lays the foundation for elastographic examination among children. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Ultrasound Techniques—Applications in Internal Medicine)

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Review

Jump to: Research

13 pages, 1042 KiB

Open AccessReview

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Enhanced Ultrasound Techniques Used in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Are They Ready for Prime Time?

by Elena Codruta Gheorghe, Carmen Nicolau, Adina Kamal, Anca Udristoiu, Lucian Gruionu and Adrian Saftoiu

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(8), 5080; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13085080 - 19 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1391

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent cause of chronic liver disease, affecting approximately 2 billion individuals worldwide with a spectrum that can range from simple steatosis to cirrhosis. Typically, the diagnosis of NAFLD is based on imaging studies, but the gold standard remains liver biopsies. Hence, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in this field, which has recently undergone rapid development in various aspects of medicine, has the potential to accurately diagnose NAFLD and steatohepatitis (NASH). This paper provides an overview of the latest research that employs AI for the diagnosis and staging of NAFLD, as well as applications for future developments in this field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Ultrasound Techniques—Applications in Internal Medicine)

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