Clinical Ultrasonography Research Articles

Transforming obstetric ultrasound into data science using eye tracking, voice recording, transducer motion and ultrasound video

Ultrasound is the primary modality for obstetric imaging and is highly sonographer dependent. Long training period, insufficient recruitment and poor retention of sonographers are among the global challenges in the expansion of ultrasound use. For the past several decades, technical advancements in clinical obstetric ultrasound scanning have largely concerned improving image quality and processing speed. By contrast, sonographers have been acquiring ultrasound images in a similar fashion for several decades. The PULSE (Perception Ultrasound by Learning Sonographer Experience) project is an interdisciplinary multi-modal imaging study aiming to offer clinical sonography insights and transform the process of obstetric ultrasound acquisition and image analysis by applying deep learning to large-scale multi-modal clinical data. A key novelty of the study is that we record full-length ultrasound video with concurrent tracking of the sonographer’s eyes, voice and the transducer while performing routine obstetric scans on pregnant women. We provide a detailed description of the novel acquisition system and illustrate how our data can be used to describe clinical ultrasound. Being able to measure different sonographer actions or model tasks will lead to a better understanding of several topics including how to effectively train new sonographers, monitor the learning progress, and enhance the scanning workflow of experts.

Variation in intraabdominal pressure in patients with acute heart failure according to left ventricular ejection fraction. Results of an intraabdominal pressure study

BackgroundThe increase in intraabdominal pressure (IAP) has been correlated with increased creatinine levels in patients with heart failure with severely reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, IAP has not been examined in more stable patients or those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Patients and methodWe conducted an observational, prospective descriptive study that measured the IAP of patients hospitalised for decompensated heart failure (HF). The sample was stratified according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), with a cut-off of 50%. The objective was to analyse the IAP, the baseline characteristics and degree of congestion using clinical ultrasonography and impedance audiometry. ResultsThe study included 56 patients, 22 with HFrEF and 34 with HFpEF. The patients with HFrEF presented a higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (11% vs. 6%; p = 0.010) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma (6% vs. 2%; p = 0.025). The IAP was higher in the patients with HFrEF (17.2 vs. 13.3 mmHg; p = 0.004), with no differences in renal function at admission according to the LVEF (CKD-EPI creatinine) (HFrEF 55.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 [32.6–83.6] vs. HFpEF 55.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 [44.0–74.9]; p = 0.485). The patients with HFrEF presented a more congestive profile determined through ultrasonography (inferior vena cava collapse [26% vs. 50%; p = 0.001]), impedance audiometry (total body water at admission, 46 L vs. 41 L; p = 0.052; and at 72 h, 50.2 L vs. 39.1 L; p = 0.038) and CA125 concentration (68 U/mL vs. 39 U/mL; p = 0.037). ConclusionsDuring the decompensation episodes, the patients with HFrEF had a greater increase in IAP and a higher degree of systemic congestion.

Shorter anogenital distance is observed in patients with testicular microlithiasis using magnetic resonance imaging

ObjectiveTo investigate the anogenital distance in patients with and without testicular microlithiasis (TML).MethodsA total of 101 patients underwent a conventional standard clinical B-mode scrotal ultrasonography and scrotal MRI. The patients were divided into two groups: patients with TML and non-TML. The latter served as control group. The anogenital distance was measured by a straight line from center of the anus to the posterior base of scrotum using MRI.ResultsIn the TML group, mean AGD was 5.4 (± 1.07) cm (range 29–79 mm), and in non-TML 5.9 (± 1.03) cm (range 35–85 mm) (p = 0.04).ConclusionMRI is a useful tool to measure the AGD. It is easy to perform without any discomfort to patients. We found AGD to be lower in patients with TML.

Türkiye’deki Yenidoğan Hekimlerinin Klinik Ultrasonografi Kullanımı ve Bakışının Değerlendirildiği Ulusal Anket Çalışması

Introduction: There is no information about the clinical ultrasonography (US) use, opinion and experiences in neonatal physicians in Turkey. The aim of our study is to evaluate the attitudes, preferences, frequency of use and perspectives of neonatal physicians in our country regarding clinical use of US. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted through a survey with the participation of neonatal physicians in Turkey with electronically between 1 February to 1 March 2020. The information about participants’ age, gender, type of institution, experience period in neonatal intensive care and academic title were recorded. The participants were asked questions such as whether they use US in the clinic, if they are using, which part of body and for which intervention, and whether they received training for this purpose. The attitudes about Clinical US were evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: 120 neonatal physicians participated in the study. The average age of the participants was determined as 40.38 ± 5.24 years. While 90% (n=108) of the participants had US devices in their clinics, the use of frequency of US among the participants was found as 69.1% (n=83). There was no difference between groups in the answers according to academic title about US device availability in the clinic, use of, participation in clinical US training, pediatric radiology rotation in the neonatal fellow education program,use of US for cranial US, abdominal US and central vein catheterization (p>0,05). Lung US use was found at a significantly higher rate in the neonatology fellows group (86.7%) compared to other academic titles (p<0.05). Conclusions: The study is the first national study in its field. It has been determined that US, which has an important role in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of the critically ill group in Turkey, is not used effectively by neonatal physicians.

Clinical forms of peritoneal larval cestodiasis by Mesocestoides spp. in dogs: diagnosis, treatment and long term follow-up

Canine peritoneal larval cestodiasis (CPLC) is a little-known parasitological infestation of the peritoneal cavity of wild and domestic carnivores with Mesocestoides spp. larvae. While adult Mesocestoides tapeworms reside within the small intestine, the larvae occasionally penetrate the host’s intestinal wall, causing a potentially life-threatening peritonitis. Severity of infection as well as the host response influences the prognosis significantly, and early diagnosis and treatment are essential. However, due to the lack of specific symptoms, this condition is underdiagnosed and, furthermore, no clear effective treatment has yet been described. The aim of this study is therefore to report two clinical cases of CPLC in dogs and to illustrate their clinical presentation and follow-up to serve as a reference for clinicians and researchers alike. Both animals were presented with abdominal distention as their main complaint. They underwent clinical examination, abdominal ultrasonography, abdominocentesis, and laparotomy followed by biochemical, cytological, parasitological, and molecular examination of the collected samples. After surgical lavage, the dogs received anthelmintic treatment with either fenbendazole (FBZ) or praziquantel (PZQ). Overall, timely and prolonged administration of high doses of FBZ seems to be the most effective treatment method. Irrespective, to date, no treatment capable of complete eradication of the infection and prevention of recurrence of disease has been found. In conclusion, further investigation into appropriate treatment plans as well as diagnostic development is needed.

EVALUATION OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS USING ULTRASOUND

The diagnosis of acute appendicitis is mainly clinical and to confirm the clinical diagnosis ultrasonography (USG) of the abdomen is being used to help in diagnosis of the disease. To find out the role of USG in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in clinically equivocal cases and to correlate USG findings with histopathological reports (HPR) of removed appendix.Total numbers of 100 patients were included in the study from 12March 2019 to 5 December 2019. Findings on ultrasound were finally compared with histopathological report of appendices removed on surgery. Those cases with alternate diagnosis were followed up and proved with other means of investigation. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall accuracy of ultrasound in diagnosis of acute appendicitis in our study were found to be 79 %, 84.20 %, 95.50%, 48.40% and 80% respectively.

Knowledge representation and learning of operator clinical workflow from full-length routine fetal ultrasound scan videos.

Ultrasound is a widely used imaging modality, yet it is well-known that scanning can be highly operator-dependent and difficult to perform, which limits its wider use in clinical practice. The literature on understanding what makes clinical sonography hard to learn and how sonography varies in the field is sparse, restricted to small-scale studies on the effectiveness of ultrasound training schemes, the role of ultrasound simulation in training, and the effect of introducing scanning guidelines and standards on diagnostic image quality. The Big Data era, and the recent and rapid emergence of machine learning as a more mainstream large-scale data analysis technique, presents a fresh opportunity to study sonography in the field at scale for the first time. Large-scale analysis of video recordings of full-length routine fetal ultrasound scans offers the potential to characterise differences between the scanning proficiency of experts and trainees that would be tedious and time-consuming to do manually due to the vast amounts of data. Such research would be informative to better understand operator clinical workflow when conducting ultrasound scans to support skills training, optimise scan times, and inform building better user-machine interfaces. This paper is to our knowledge the first to address sonography data science, which we consider in the context of second-trimester fetal sonography screening. Specifically, we present a fully-automatic framework to analyse operator clinical workflow solely from full-length routine second-trimester fetal ultrasound scan videos. An ultrasound video dataset containing more than 200 hours of scan recordings was generated for this study. We developed an original deep learning method to temporally segment the ultrasound video into semantically meaningful segments (the video description). The resulting semantic annotation was then used to depict operator clinical workflow (the knowledge representation). Machine learning was applied to the knowledge representation to characterise operator skills and assess operator variability. For video description, our best-performing deep spatio-temporal network shows favourable results in cross-validation (accuracy: 91.7%), statistical analysis (correlation: 0.98, p < 0.05) and retrospective manual validation (accuracy: 76.4%). For knowledge representation of operator clinical workflow, a three-level abstraction scheme consisting of a Subject-specific Timeline Model (STM), Summary of Timeline Features (STF), and an Operator Graph Model (OGM), was introduced that led to a significant decrease in dimensionality and computational complexity compared to raw video data. The workflow representations were learnt to discriminate between operator skills, where a proposed convolutional neural network-based model showed most promising performance (cross-validation accuracy: 98.5%, accuracy on unseen operators: 76.9%). These were further used to derive operator-specific scanning signatures and operator variability in terms of type, order and time distribution of constituent tasks.

Evaluation of Adnexal Masses-Correlation of Clinical, Sonological and Histological Findings in Adnexal Masses

Adnexal mass is a common clinical finding in gynaecological practice. The study aims to find out the diagnostic value of clinical examination, ultrasonography and Ca-125 and its correlation, using Risk of Malignancy Index with histopathological diagnosis in adnexal masses. Clinical records were retrieved of women who had surgical management for adnexal mass in the last 2 years duration. Based on the data, Risk of Malignancy Index values were calculated. It was then compared with histopathological diagnosis. Out of 66 patients, 56 patients had benign tumor and 10 patients had malignancy. The Risk of Malignancy Index values of each patient was calculated which ranged from 8 to 2205 with mean value of 425.52 (SD±41.8). Risk of Malignancy Index sensitivity was 70%, specificity was 96.42%, positive predictive value was 77.78%, and negative predictive value was 95.83%. Risk of Malignancy Index is a reliable diagnostic tool in differentiating benign from malignant adnexal masses.

Real-Time Remote Tele-Mentored Echocardiography: A Systematic Review.

Background and Objectives: Real-time remote tele-mentored echocardiography (RTMUS echo) involves the transmission of clinical ultrasound (CU) cardiac images with direct feedback from a CU expert at a different location. In this review, we summarize the current uses of RTMUS to diagnose and manage cardiovascular dysfunction and discuss expanded and future uses. Materials and Methods: We performed a literature search (PubMed and EMBase) to access articles related to RTMUS echo. We reviewed articles for selection using Covidence, a web-based tool for managing systematic reviews and data were extracted using a separate standardized collection form. Results: Our search yielded 15 articles. Twelve of these articles demonstrated the feasibility of having a novice sonographer mentored by a tele-expert in obtaining a variety of cardiac ultrasound views. The articles discussed different technological specifications for the RTMUS system, but all showed that adequate images were able to be obtained. Overall, RTMUS echo was found to be a positive intervention that contributed to patient care. Conclusion: RTMUS echo allows for rapid access to diagnostic imaging in various clinical settings. RTMUS echo can help in assessing patients that may require a higher level of isolation precautions or in other resource-constrained environments. In the future, identifying the least expensive way to utilize RTMUS echo will be important.

Emerging applications of clinical ultrasonography

In this work, we introduce the numerous emerging areas and frontiers in the use of point-of-care ultrasonography. Of these, we review the following three: 1) the use of clinical ultrasonography in infectious and tropical diseases (we address its usefulness in the diagnosis and follow-up of the main syndromes, in tropical diseases, and in areas with scarce resources); 2) the usefulness of clinical ultrasonography in the assessment of response to volume infusion in severely ill patients (we review basic concepts and the main static and dynamic variables used for this evaluation); and 3) the use of clinical ultrasonography in the assessment of muscle mass in elderly patients with primary sarcopenia (we review the main muscles and measurements used for it).

Features of radiation diagnostics in determining femoral stump defects in primary prosthetics

This paper is based on a clinical and laboratory study of 43 patients and persons with disabilities who underwent primary prosthetics of the femoral stump. The observations were carried out from 1 month to 6 months after surgery in the period from 2014 to 2019 in the clinic of the National Center for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics of Persons with Disabilities. The results of the complex studies are presented: clinical (orthopedic, neurological), psychological, radiological, ultrasound studies, and Doppler sonography.

Study of reliability of meniscus damage signs using high intensity 1,5 tesla mri compared to the results of arthroscopic interventions in acute and obsolete knee injury

Annotation. Among the large joints, the knee joint is most often injured, which is due to the peculiarities of its structure and functional loads in the process of human life. The most common injuries are meniscus damages of the knee joint, that is the evidence of steady increase in the number of partial arthroscopic meniscectomies, which have become the most common orthopedic procedure. Diagnosis of meniscus damage is based on the results of clinical examination, sonography and MRI. Increasing the resolution of MRI machines, improving the technique of their implementation allows to improve the quality of diagnosis of meniscus ruptures and improve the results of surgical arthroscopic interventions on the knee joint. The aim of the study – to demonstrate the capabilities of high-intensity 1.5 Tesla MRI and to study the reliability of MRI signs of meniscus damage in comparison with the results of arthroscopic interventions in acute and chronic knee joint injury. The work is based on the results of MRI examinations and arthroscopic interventions of 247 patients with acute and chronic knee joint injuries aged 14 to 59 years. Medial meniscus damage was diagnosed in 206 (83.41%) patients. Lateral meniscus ruptures were diagnosed in 34 patients (13.76%). Simultaneous damage of both menisci was found in 7 (2.83%) patients. It was found that ruptures of the medial meniscus by location were: the root of the posterior horn of the medial meniscus in 4 (1.94%) patients, ruptures of the posterior horn in 82 (39.81%) patients. Injury of the posterior horn with the transition to the body of the meniscus was diagnosed in 117 (56.79%) patients. Anterior horn ruptures were detected in 3 (1.46%) patients. With ruptures of the lateral meniscus: damage of the root of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus was found in 2 (5.88%) patients, damage of the posterior horn in 9 (26.47%) patients. Posterior horn rupture with transition to the body of the meniscus was diagnosed in 19 (55.89%) patients. Isolated ruptures of the anterior horn were found in 4 (11.76%) patients. Simultaneous damage to both menisci was found in 7 (2.83%) patients. 206 (83.40%) partial meniscectomies were performed during arthroscopic interventions and meniscus suturings were performed over 41 (16.60%) patients. In order to identify meniscus damage and their location during MRI knee joint investigations 21 pseudo-positive and 18 pseudo-negative cases of diagnosis were revealed. The sensitivity of MRI for defining damage and localization of meniscus rupture was 91,7%, specificity 92,6%, diagnostic accuracy 94,8%. Discrepancies in the evaluation of meniscal damage most often occurred in cases of their combined ruptures and degenerative changes in the menisci.

Diagnostic performance of the Strength and Pain Assessment (SPA) score for non-contact muscle injury screening in male soccer players

ABSTRACT Objectives The aims of this study were to develop a clinical-feature based scoring system for muscle injury screening and to assess its diagnostic accuracy when large number of injuries are suspected. Methods A prospective diagnostic accuracy study was performed according to the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD) criteria. The diagnostic accuracy of the Strength and Pain Assessment (SPA) score (index test) was assessed in relation to muscle ultrasonography (reference standard). A large (n = 175) number of male soccer players met the inclusion/exclusion criteria: clinical assessment (i.e., evaluation of pain onset modality, location, distribution, impact on performance, and manual muscle strength testing) and ultrasonography were performed in all players after 48 hours from the sudden or progressive onset of muscle pain during or after a soccer competition. Results 91 of 175 cases (52%) were classified as functional muscle disorders, while signs of muscle tear were observed in the remaining 84 of 175 (48%) cases that were classified as structural muscle injuries. The median (1st – 3rd quartile) value of the SPA score was significantly (P < 0.001) lower in the functional disorder group [9 (9–10)] compared to the structural injury group [12 (12–13)]. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve for different cutoff points of the SPA score was 0.977 (95% confidence intervals: 0.957–0.998) and the optimal cutoff value of the SPA score providing the greatest sensitivity and specificity (respectively, 99% and 89%) was 11. Conclusion This study found that the SPA score has high diagnostic accuracy for structural muscle injuries and could be used as a valid screening tool in soccer players presenting with sudden or progressive onset of muscle pain during or after a competition.

Joint Recommendations and Resources for Clinical Ultrasound Education Amidst the COVID-19 Era.

Abstract In mid-March 2020, many North American emergency medicine (EM) physician educators found their campuses closed, educational programs canceled, and research projects furloughed as operations were directed to the clinical arena due to the novel coronavirus of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic Widespread need for personal protective equipment (PPE) and viral testing led to concerns over supply and rationing

Aplicaciones emergentes de la ecografía clínica

In this work, we introduce the numerous emerging areas and frontiers in the use of point-of-care ultrasonography. Of these, we review the following three: 1) the use of clinical ultrasonography in infectious and tropical diseases (we address its usefulness in the diagnosis and follow-up of the main syndromes, in tropical diseases, and in areas with scarce resources); 2) the usefulness of clinical ultrasonography in the assessment of response to volume infusion in severely ill patients (we review basic concepts and the main static and dynamic variables used for this evaluation); and 3) the use of clinical ultrasonography in the assessment of muscle mass in elderly patients with primary sarcopenia (we review the main muscles and measurements used for it).

Variación de la presión intraabdominal en los pacientes con insuficiencia cardíaca aguda según la fracción de eyección ventricular izquierda. Resultados del estudio PIA

BackgroundThe increase in intraabdominal pressure (IAP) has been correlated with increased creatinine levels in patients with heart failure with severely reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, IAP has not been examined in more stable patients or those with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Patients and methodWe conducted an observational, prospective descriptive study that measured the IAP of patients hospitalised for decompensated heart failure (HF). The sample was stratified according to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), with a cut-off of 50%. The objective was to analyse the IAP, the baseline characteristics and degree of congestion using clinical ultrasonography and impedance audiometry. ResultsThe study included 56 patients, 22 with HFrEF and 34 with HFpEF. The patients with HFrEF presented a higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (11% vs. 6%; p = 0.010) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma (6% vs. 2%; p = 0.025). The IAP was higher in the patients with HFrEF (17.2 vs. 13.3 mmHg; p = 0.004), with no differences in renal function at admission according to the LVEF (CKD-EPI creatinine) (HFrEF 55.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 [32.6-83.6] vs. HFpEF 55.0 mL/min/1.73 m2 [44.0-74.9]; p = 0.485). The patients with HFrEF presented a more congestive profile determined through ultrasonography (inferior vena cava collapse [26% vs. 50%; p = 0.001]), impedance audiometry (total body water at admission, 46 L vs. 41 L; p = 0.052; and at 72 h, 50.2 L vs. 39.1 L; p = 0.038) and CA125 concentration (68 U/mL vs. 39 U/mL; p = 0.037). ConclusionsDuring the decompensation episodes, the patients with HFrEF had a greater increase in IAP and a higher degree of systemic congestion.

False-Positive Malignant Diagnosis of Nodule Mimicking Lesions by Computer-Aided Thyroid Nodule Analysis in Clinical Ultrasonography Practice.

This study aims to test computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for thyroid nodules in clinical ultrasonography (US) practice with a focus towards identifying thyroid entities associated with CAD system misdiagnoses. Two-hundred patients referred to thyroid US were prospectively enrolled. An experienced radiologist evaluated the thyroid nodules and saved axial images for further offline blinded analysis using a commercially available CAD system. To represent clinical practice, not only true nodules, but mimicking lesions were also included. Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was performed according to present guidelines. US features and thyroid entities significantly associated with CAD system misdiagnosis were identified along with the diagnostic accuracy of the radiologist and the CAD system. Diagnostic specificity regarding the radiologist was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than when compared with the CAD system (88.1% vs. 40.5%) while no significant difference was found in the sensitivity (88.6% vs. 80%). Focal inhomogeneities and true nodules in thyroiditis, nodules with coarse calcification and inspissated colloid cystic nodules were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with CAD system misdiagnosis as false-positives. The commercially available CAD system is promising when used to exclude thyroid malignancies, however, it currently may not be able to reduce unnecessary FNABs, mainly due to the false-positive diagnoses of nodule mimicking lesions.

Clinical ultrasonography in cardiovascular risk

In the prevention of cardiovascular disease, determining the cardiovascular risk is the cornerstone of preventive interventions. In this risk estimation, detecting subclinical cardiovascular damage represents a complementary tool to classic stratification based on risk factors. The versatility, availability, speed, low cost and safety of ultrasonography place it ahead of other techniques employed in detecting subclinical cardiovascular damage. The clinical practice guidelines for cardiovascular risk prevention recommend the use of ultrasonography for assessing atheromatous plaques and left ventricular hypertrophy as modulators of cardiovascular risk.Ultrasonography also has other relevant applications in cardiovascular risk, including the diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysms, kidney assessments for patients with chronic kidney disease or suspected secondary arterial hypertension and the detection of steatosis when nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is suspected.

Clinical ultrasonography in patients who inject drugs (the CUPID protocol): an illustrated case series.

In 2017, there were ≈47,600 opioid overdose‐related deaths in the United States. US emergency department (ED) visits for suspected opioid overdose increased by 30% between July 2016 and September 2017.2 The current US opioid epidemic makes it critical for emergency physicians to be aware of common and uncommon infectious and non‐infectious complications of injection drug use. Point‐of‐care ultrasound has become a widely available, non‐invasive diagnostic tool in EDs across the United States and worldwide. The increasing population of injection drug use patients is at risk for serious morbidity and mortality from an array of disease states amenable to ultrasound‐based diagnosis. We propose a protocol for clinical ultrasonography in patients who inject drugs (the CUPID protocol), a focused, 3‐system point‐of‐care ultrasound approach emphasizing cardiovascular, thoracic, and musculoskeletal imaging. The protocol is a screening tool, designed to detect high risk infectious and noninfectious complications of injection drug use.

Role of high resolution ultrasonography in ankle overuse and sports injuries

Abstract Purpose of this study is : To emphasize the role of high resolution USG in ankle sports and overuse injuries. thus assessing its ability to detect early abnormalities at diffusion level. Methods This study was conducted at the radiology department, faculty of medicine, Ain-Shams University following the approval by the scientific and ethics committee on 30 patients between 22 and 59 years suffering from ankle soft tissue injuries. The patients were referred from the orthopedic department, outpatient clinics of El-Demerdash hospital or private clinics. Results The study showed that, in Tendinous pathology, Achilles tendon is the most commonly injured ankle tendon, followed by tibialis posterior and the tendinitis/teno-synovitis was the most encountered tendons pathology. In ligamentous injuries, anterior talo-fibular ligament and calcaneo-fibular ligaments were the most frequently injured ligaments. Associated pathology included effusion and retro-calcaneal bursitis. Comparison to clinical data ultrasonography proved to be more accurate tool in diagnosis and characterization of ankle soft tissue injuries. Conclusion Ultrasound is an excellent tool for imaging focal soft tissue abnormalities, and used as primary tool of investigation.