Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the value of high-resolution ultrasound combined with shear-wave elastography (SWE) in measuring skin thickness in patients with localized scleroderma (LS). Fifty patients with LS diagnosed by pathology in the hospital were selected as the research object, with a total of 96 lesions. Healthy people (50 cases) in the same period were selected as the control group. The skin thickness of the abdomen, chest, and left finger of the two groups was compared. The traditional nonlocal means (NLM) algorithm was improved by changing the Euclidean distance and introducing a cosine function, which was applied to the ultrasonic imaging intelligent diagnosis of patients with localized scleroderma. SWE imaging was evaluated, and the results demonstrated that LS lesion edema stage accounted for 7.29%, hardening stage occupied 43.75%, and the proportion of atrophy stage reached 48.96%. When the size of shell was 1 mm, maximum elastic modulus (Emax) was 0.984, mean of elastic modulus (Emean) was 0.926, and electro-static discharge (Esd) was 0.965. When the size of shell was 2 mm, the elastic moduli around lesions were as follows: Emax was 0.998, Emean was 0.968, and Esd was 0.997. By comparing the skin thickness of the abdomen, chest, and left finger, it was found that there was a significant difference between the LS group and the control group (P < 0.05). When the shell was 2 mm, the effect of sensitivity specificity on SWE imaging was better than that when the shell was 1 mm. In summary, the improved NLM algorithm showed excellent denoising effects on the ultrasonic images of LS patients. Besides, it could assist clinicians in ultrasonic imaging diagnosis for LS patients and effectively improve the diagnostic accuracy of diseases.
Highlights
Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease characterized by skin inflammation, degeneration, thickening, fibrosis, and hardening and atrophy [1]
E pathogenesis of localized scleroderma (LS) is related to many reasons, including activation and imbalance of the immune system, changes of small blood vessels in the dermis, and fibroblast activation and fibrosis [2–4]. e treatment principle of scleroderma skin hardening and thickening is early diagnosis and early treatment, which can help to prevent disease progression [5, 6]. e degree of skin fibrosis in patients with LS is closely related to the clinical stage of the disease and visceral involvement
nonlocal means (NLM) noise reduction algorithm had a certain inhibitory effect on the noise of patients’ ultrasonic images. e improved NLM algorithm used in this study had a visual effect on the noise reduction of patients’ ultrasonic images. e improved NLM algorithm had a certain effect on the noise reduction of patients’ ultrasonic images, whether in terms of smoothness, detail retention, or accuracy of detail judgment
Summary
Scleroderma is a connective tissue disease characterized by skin inflammation, degeneration, thickening, fibrosis, and hardening and atrophy [1]. E treatment principle of scleroderma skin hardening and thickening is early diagnosis and early treatment, which can help to prevent disease progression [5, 6]. E degree of skin fibrosis in patients with LS is closely related to the clinical stage of the disease and visceral involvement. There are operator dependence, semiquantitative skin thickness evaluation, and insensitive to some small changes. High-frequency ultrasound is one of the high-resolution imaging tools. It is widely used in the clinical evaluation of skin thickness [9, 10]. It has been shown by some scholars that the quantification of skin thickness by high-frequency ultrasound has the characteristics of good repeatability, objectivity, and reliability [11]
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