2429: Tissue harmonic imaging of thoracic tumors: Comparison with conventional gray-scale sonography

Abstract

Objectives: Tissue harmonic imaging (THI) is a newly developed gray-scale ultrasound mode that improves image quality prominently, especially in patients who are difficult to scan by traditional techniques. This study is to compare the imaging quality of thoracic tumors between THI and conventional gray-scale sonography. Methods: A commercial ultrasound machine with a 3.75 MHz convex transducer was used to examine 98 thoracic tumors. In the performance of both THI and conventional sonography, a single button on the control panel was used to alternate between the two imaging techniques. Two experienced chest specialists with unknown underlying lesions reviewed and compared the images between THI and conventional sonography. Results: Among the enrolled 98 thoracic tumors (41 solitary lung cancers, 36 masses in the collapsed lung and 21 chest wall tumors), both observers ranked THI the same as or better than conventional sonography in all 98 thoracic tumors with the agreement in both observers achieving 93%. Of these, THI also added information and/or changed diagnosis in 27 (28%) thoracic tumors [solitary lung cancer (n = 8, 20%) and mass in the collapsed lung (n = 19, 53%)] with the agreement in both observers achieving 68%. Conclusions: For imaging thoracic tumors, THI provides more information and better image quality than conventional sonography.