The concordance in lesion detection and characteristics between the Anatomical Intelligence and conventional breast ultrasound Scan method.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the concordance in lesion detection, between conventional Handhold Ultrasound (HHUS) and The Anatomical Intelligence for Breast ultrasound scan method. RESULT: The AI-breast showed the absolute agreement between the resident and an experienced breast radiologist. The ICC for the scan time, number, clockface location, distance to the nipple, largest diameter and mean diameter of the lesion obtained by a resident and an experienced breast radiologist were 0.7642, 0.7692, 0.8651, 0.8436, 0.7502, 0.8885, respectively. The ICC of the both practitioners of AI-breast were 0.7971, 0.7843, 0.9283, 0.8748, 0.7248, 0.8163, respectively. The k value of Anatomical Intelligence breast between experienced breast radiologist and resident in these image characteristics of boundary, morphology, aspect ratio, internal echo, and BI-RADS assessment were 0.7424, 0.7217, 0.6741, 0.6419, 0.6241, respectively. The k value of the two readers of AI-breast were 0.6531, 0.6762, 0.6439, 0.6137, 0.5981, respectively. CONCLUSION: The anatomical intelligent breast US scanning method has excellent reproducibility in recording the lesion location and the distance from the nipple, which may be utilized in the lesions surveillance in the future.

A preliminary study on ultrasound-guided percutaneous microwave ablation for palliative treatment of advanced head and neck malignancies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous microwave ablation (UgPMWA) for palliative treatment of advanced head and neck malignancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study includes 18 consecutive patients with advanced head and neck malignancies (n = 24), who have undergone UgPMWA for palliative treatment at our institution from December 2016 to April 2020. The maximum diameter and volume of the tumor were assessed by US, CT or MRI before microwave ablation (MWA), 1, 3 and 6 months after MWA and every 6 months thereafter. The quality of life was clinically assessed by the University of Washington Head and Neck Quality of Life questionnaire (UW-QOl). RESULTS: The success rate of tumor-targeting microwave antenna placement was 100%. No nerve injury and serious complications or death occurred during the perioperative period. The follow-up duration varied from 1 month to 38 months (11.56 ± 10.23 months) among patients. By the last follow-up before submission, the value of maximum diameter (5.00 ± 2.90 vs 3.28 ± 2.11 cm. p < 0.05) and tumor volume decreased significantly（74.35 ± 46.88 vs 47.45 ± 24.08 cm3. p < 0.05）respectively after palliative treatment with UgPMWA. UW-QOl of the patients was improved (59.24 ± 11.51 vs 69.84 ± 8.12, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: UgPMWA is safe and effective for the palliative treatment of head and neck malignancies. Ultrasonic guidance can indicate an accurate location of the microwave antenna. It can also monitor the ablation area in real-time during the operation to avoid damage to surrounding normal tissues.

Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Guided Transoral Core Needle Biopsy: A Novel, Safe and Well-Tolerated Procedure for Obtaining High-Quality Tissue in Patients with Oral Cancer.

The aim of the prospective study described here was to compare the tolerability, safety and diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound-guided transoral core needle biopsy (CEUS-CNB) with that of conventional US-guided transoral CNB (US-CNB) and standard incisional biopsy in patients with oral masses. Between June 2017 and November 2019, consecutive patients with oral masses referred for biopsy were randomly assigned to undergo incisional biopsy, US-CNB or CEUS-CNB. Procedure time, intra­operative blood loss volume, diagnostic performance and pain level before and after the procedure assessed by visual analogue score (VAS) were recorded and compared among the three procedures. Finally, 238 patients with pathology confirmation were analyzed: 80 patients underwent incisional biopsy, 78 patients US-CNB and 80 patients CEUS-CNB. In this study, no significant difference was found in biopsy time between CEUS-CNB, US-CNB and incisional biopsy (75 ± 11 s vs. 73.6 ± 12 s vs. 77 ± 13 s, p = 0.24). CEUS-CNB achieved the highest sensitivity (CEUS-CNB: 100%, US-CNB: 88.5%, incisional biopsy: 84.3%), negative predictive value (CEUS-CNB: 100%, US-CNB: 81.3%, incisional biopsy: 78.4%) and accuracy (CEUS-CNB: 100%, US-CNB: 92.3%, incisional biopsy: 90%). The VAS score for incision biopsy was higher (p = 0.01) and the amount of bleeding was larger (p < 0.001), yet there was no significant difference between CEUS-CNB and US-CNB. Our results indicate CEUS-guided transoral CNB is an efficient, safe and well-tolerated procedure, with biopsy time comparable to and diagnostic performance better than those of conventional US-guided transoral CNB and incisional biopsy.

Computer-aided diagnosis system of thyroid nodules ultrasonography: Diagnostic performance difference between computer-aided diagnosis and 111 radiologists.

To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system and 111 radiologists with different experience in identifying benign and malignant thyroid nodules, and to summarize the ultrasound features that may affect the diagnostic of CAD and radiologists.Fifty thyroid nodules and 111 radiologists were enrolled in this study. All the 50 nodules were diagnosed by the 111 radiologists and the CAD system simultaneously. The diagnostic performance of the CAD system, senior and junior radiologists with the maximum accuracy were calculated and compared. Interobserver agreement for different ultrasound characteristics between the CAD and senior radiologist were analyzed.CAD system showed a higher specificity than junior radiologist (87.5% vs 70.4%, P = .03), and a lower sensitivity than the senior radiologist and junior radiologist but the statistics were not significant (76.9% vs 86.9%, P > .5; 76.9% vs 82.6%, P > .5). The CAD system and senior radiologist got larger AUC than junior radiologist but the differences were not statistically significant (0.82 vs 0.76, respectively; P = .5). The interobserver agreement for the US characteristics between the CAD system and senior radiologist were: substantial agreement for hypoechoic and taller than wide (kappa value = 0.66, 0.78), and moderate agreement for irregular margin and micro-calcifications (kappa value = 0.52, 0.42).The CAD system achieved equal diagnostic accuracy to the senior radiologists and higher accuracy than the junior radiologists. The interobserver agreements in the US features between the CAD system and senior radiologist were substantial agreement for hypoechoic and taller than wide; moderate agreement for irregular margin and micro-calcifications. The location of a thyroid nodule and the feature of macrocalcification with wide acoustic shadow may influence the analysis of the CAD system.