Dear Ultrasound Insider,
Thyroid elastography has shown potential, but some researchers believe the ultrasound technique still has room for improvement in characterizing thyroid nodules. A team from Poland is reporting promising results, however, from a new method of analyzing elastography exams.
Researchers found that analyzing both linear and nonlinear elastography data when reviewing thyroid scans yielded 100% sensitivity and very high specificity for characterizing thyroid nodules, a significant improvement over classic elastographic analysis methods.
Dr. Rafal Slapa presented the group's work at the recent American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) annual meeting in New York City, and our coverage of the presentation is the subject of this month's Insider Exclusive. You can access it before our regular members by clicking here.
We've also got other articles from AIUM 2013, including how the sensitivity of shear-wave breast elastography can be significantly enhanced by incorporating a quality measure that grades the quality of the shear wave itself. For that article, click here.
Sonographers are often underappreciated, undervalued, and underpaid. To fix this, a number of steps should be taken, including mandating higher-level educational requirements, according to an eye-opening session at the meeting. What else can sonographers do? Click here to get the details.
In other news this month in your Ultrasound Digital Community, Dr. Jason Birnholz is back with part 10 of his Practice of Ultrasound series. In the latest edition, Birnholz delves into the concept of trust in ultrasound.
Considering menopause as an influence on breast elasticity may help improve the diagnostic performance of breast elastography, according to Chinese researchers.
Also, five students enrolled in the sonography program at the College of DuPage have alleged that the program's leaders have engaged in unethical conduct. For our coverage by associate editor Cynthia E. Keen, click here.
Do you have an idea for a topic you'd like to see covered? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
