Abstract： Objective To introduce the new procedure of endobronchial ultrasoundguided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUSTBNA) for staging lung cancer and diagnosing thoracic diseases, in order to determine its value in the evaluation of thoracic diseases. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the data of all patients examined with EBUSTBNA our institution between September 2009 and May 2010. Among the patients, there were 75 males and 31 females with an average age of 62.3 years old. Based on their primary indication, we divided all the 106 patients into three categories. (1) There were 76 patients with known or bly suspected lung cancer. Enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes on radiographic examination of the chest (≥1.0 cm) were detected in all the patients. (2) There were 22 patients with enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes or mediastinal masses of unknown origin. (3) There were 8 patients with pulmonary mass located close to the central airways. Results (1) 76 patients underwent EBUSTBNA for known or bly suspected lung cancer. Among them, 58 patients were confirmed to have mediastinal lymph nodes metastasis on EBUSTBNA. Sixteen in the 18 patients with negative EBUSTBNA underwent thoracoscopy or thoracotomy for pulmonary resection and mediastinal lymph node dissection. Postoperative pathology confirmed that 12 patients did not have metastatic nodes, 2 patients had metastatic nodes and 2 other patients had benign lesions within the lung. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of EBUSTBNA for the mediastinal staging of lung cancer were 96.66%(58/60), 100.00%(12/12) and 97.22%(70/72), respectively. (2) 22 patients underwent EBUSTBNA for the evaluation of mediastinal adenopathy or mass in the absence of any identifiable pulmonary lesion. Among them, 7 had malignancy, 13 had benign diseases on EBUSTBNA and the sensitivity of EBUSTBNA in distinguishing malignant mediastinal diseases was 87.50% (7/8). (3) 8 patients with pulmonary mass located close to the central airways were accessed by EBUSTBNA. Definite diagnosis was achieved in 7 patients, and lung cancer was detected in 6 patients. The sensitivity and the diagnostic accuracy of EBUSTBNA for the diagnosis of unknown pulmonary mass was 85.71%(6/7) and 87.50%(7/8), respectively. All the procedures were uneventful, and there were no complications. Conclusion EBUSTBNA is a highly effective and safe procedure. We believe that EBUSTBNA should be used routinely in the diagnosis and staging of thoracic diseases.
Both feature representation and classifier performance are important factors that determine the performance of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems. In order to improve the performance of ultrasound-based CAD for breast cancers, a novel multiple empirical kernel mapping (MEKM) exclusivity regularized machine (ERM) ensemble classifier algorithm based on self-paced learning (SPL) is proposed, which simultaneously promotes the performance of both feature representation and the classifier. The proposed algorithm first generates multiple groups of features by MEKM to enhance the ability of feature representation, which also work as the kernel transform in multiple support vector machines embedded in ERM. The SPL strategy is then adopted to adaptively select samples from easy to hard so as to gradually train the ERM classifier model with improved performance. This algorithm is verified on a B-mode ultrasound dataset and an elastography ultrasound dataset, respectively. The results show that the classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity on B-mode ultrasound are (86.36±6.45)%, (88.15±7.12)%, and (84.52±9.38)%, respectively, and the classification accuracy, sensitivity and specificity on elastography ultrasound are (85.97±3.75)%, (85.93±6.09)%, and (86.03±5.88)%, respectively. It indicates that the proposed algorithm can effectively improve the performance of ultrasound-based CAD for breast cancers with the potential for application.
Quantitative measurement of strain distribution of arterial vessel walls due to pulsatile blood flow within the vascular lumen is valuable for evaluating the elasticity of arterial wall and predicting the evolution of plaques. The present paper shows that the three-dimensional (3D) strain distribution are estimated through uni-directional coupling for 3D vessel and blood models reconstructed from intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) images with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation technique. The morphology of vessel wall and plaques as well as strain distribution can be visually displayed with pseudo-color coding.
Objective To investigate theory guidance for preoperative appraisal of advanced stage lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans and clinical application of arteriae surales. Methods From September 2007 to June 2008, one hundred cases without obviously arteriosclerosis were collected to accepted color Doppler ultrasonography, and parameters of the arteriae surales were observed， such as location, macro-body morphous, caliber, and blood parameters value, meanwhile the caliber and blood parameters value of anterior tibial artery and posterior tibial artery were also measured. Results Detection rate of arteriae surales was 96% (96/100). Arteriae surales located midpiece sequentiae of popliteal fossa, and above flatfish tendinous arch, which in 89 cases were geminous branched from popliteal artery; in the remaining 7 cases, popliteal artery diverged a bole, walked 1-3 cm, then diverged two branches and ingressed gastrocnemius. Diameter and cross section area of arteriae surales were smaller than those of anterior tibial artery and posterior tibial artery (P＜0.05）, but peak flow rate of systolic phase, maximum positive direction flow rate of relaxing period and mean flow rate were not significantly differents between arteriae surales and anterior tibial artery or posterior tibial artery （P＞0.05）. The flow of geminous arteriae surales was 63.1% of anterior tibial artery, and 59.1% of posterior tibial artery. Conclusion Through the ultrasonic study, it is significant for clinical therapy to master the normal anatomy, blood parameters value and flow of arteriae surales.
Objective To discuss the relationship between the changes of hepatic blood flow detected by usingspectral Doppler ultrasound and serum TNF- α and IL-1 β levels after liver ischemia/reperfusion （I/R） of rat. Methods The hepatic ischemia 15 min and reperfusion models were established by using pringle method. The hepatic blood flow of hepatic artery and portal vein at 1， 6， and 24 hours after liver I/R were detected by using spectral Doppler ultrasound， the total blood flow volume （FV） was calculated， and the serum TNF- α and IL-1 β levels at each time point were detected. The correlation between the TNF-α， IL-1 β， and FV were analyzed. Results The FV at 1 hour and 6 hours after reperfusion in I/R group were less than those in sham operation （SO） group 〔（52.08±11.88） mL/min vs. （85.32±29.85） mL/min and （44.69±8.75）mL/min vs. （81.41±28.67） mL/min， P＜0.05〕. The FV at 24 hours after operation or reperfusion of 2 groups was no significant differences （P＞0.05）. The serum content of TNF-α at 1 hour after reperfusion in I/R group was higher than that in SO group 〔（310.52±39.83）pg/mL vs. （240.74±31.65）pg/mL， P＜0.05〕. The serum contents of TNF-α at 6 and 24 hours after operation or reperfusion of 2 groups were no significant differences （P＞0.05）. The serum contents of IL-1β at 1 hour and 6 hours in I/R group were higher than those in SO group 〔（38.08±3.73） pg/mLvs. （22.03±0.79） pg/mL and （27.44±6.11） pg/mL vs. （21.78±0.71） pg/mL， P＜0.05〕. The serum content of IL-1β at 24 hours after operation or reperfusion of 2 groups was no significant differences （P＞0.05）. There was a negative correlation between the FV and TNF-α or IL-1β （r=-0.43， P＜0.05；r=-0.46， P＜0.05）. Conclusions Spectral Doppler ultrasound can observe the changes of hepatic blood flow and evaluate the hepatic microcirculation indirectly. The hepatic blood flow after liver I/R decreases and it may be related to over expression of TNF-α and IL-1β.
Automated characterization of different vessel wall tissues including atherosclerotic plaques, branchings and stents from intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) gray-scale images was addressed. The texture features of each frame were firstly detected with local binary pattern (LBP), Haar-like and Gabor filter in the present study. Then, a Gentle Adaboost classifier was designed to classify tissue features. The methods were validated with clinically acquired image data. The manual characterization results obtained by experienced physicians were adopted as the golden standard to evaluate the accuracy. Results indicated that the recognition accuracy of lipidic plaques reached 94.54%, while classification precision of fibrous and calcified plaques reached 93.08%. High recognition accuracy can be reached up to branchings 93.20% and stents 93.50%, respectively.
Objective To investigate the endometrial thickness and echo patterns of healthy women, so as to provide a basis for the formulation of a standard to define normal endometrium in Chinese women. Method A total of 1872 married healthy women in Yongchuan District received transvaginal ultrasound examination. The endometrial sonograph was observed and endometrial thickness was measured for statistical analyses. Results In pre-menopausal women of different age groups, the endometrial thickness was increased and the endometrial echo was enhanced from the proliferative phase, ovulatory phase and secretory phase. The endometrial thickness varied significantly among different menstrual cycles, while no significant difference was observed in the endometrial thickness of a same menstrual cycle among women of different age groups. Pre-menopausal women had significantly different endometrial thickness when compared with post-menopausal women. Conclusion Through a general survey of women by transvaginal ultrasound, a large sample database can be established, which may contribute to the formulation of a standard to define normal endometrium in Chinese women and to help identify abnormal endometrium.
Objective To determine the role of multi-slice spiral computed tomography (MSCT) compared with transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in preoperative staging of rectal cancer. Methods Patients with rectal cancer from January to May 2009 in Department of Anal-Colorectal Surgery of West China Hospital were enrolled. All patients were preoperatively examined by both MSCT and TRUS for T and N staging, which were compared with postoperative pathological findings. Results The study population consisted of 81 patients. Regarding depth of tumor invasion, the accuracy of TRUS (88.89%) was not significantly higher than that of MSCT (77.78%), P=0.168. Regarding lymph node metastasis, the result of MSCT was more accurate than that of TRUS (66.67% vs. 48.15%, P=0.034). Conclusions Although TRUS remains the advantages in evaluating local invasion, the gap between MSCT and TRUS are significantly diminished. MSCT is superior to TRUS in evaluation of lymph node metastasis, however, further improvement on the diagnostic accuracies would be warranted in both modalities.
Objective To explore the effectiveness and appropriate energy parameters of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in treating infant hemangiomas. Methods Between January 2009 and September 2010, 60 infants with hemangioma were treated. There were 23 boys and 37 girls, aged from 3 to 30 months with an average of 10 months. These hemangiomas were located at head and face (24 cases), trunk (15 cases), l imb (16 cases), buttocks (2 cases), perineum (1 case),and multiple lesions (cervix, abdomen, and upper l imbs, 2 cases). The size of hemangiomas ranged from 0.8 cm × 0.6 cm to 6.0 cm × 5.0 cm. The 60 infants were randomly divided into 3 groups: groups A, B, and C (n=20) based on different ultrasound energies used in treatment. The lesion surface was irradiated with 3-5 mm/second for 5 continuously by ultrasonic therapeutic apparatus at a frequency of 9 MHz, impulse of 1 000, and 10% of scanning overlap; the powers of 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5 W were used in groups A, B, and C, respectively, 3 times as a course of treatment with 1 month interval. The effect and ulcer and scar risk in irradiation region were observed after 6 months of treatment. Results All cases were treated for one course. After 6 months of treatment, no significant difference in the effect was found among 3 groups based on hemangioma treatment judging criterion (P gt; 0.05). Neither ulcer nor scar occurred in group A; ulcer occurred in 4 cases (20%) of group B with superficial scars, and in 7 cases (35%) of group C with obvious scars. The rates of ulcer and scar in groups B and C were significantly higher than that in group A (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion HIFU irradiating is one of effective methods for treating infant hemangioma, but the appropriate energy was below 3.5 W.
ObjectiveTo explore the value of modified method for intratumoral injection of thrombin in the treatment of iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms.MethodsClinical data of 28 patients with iatrogenic pseudoaneurysms after interventional treatment in our hospital from October 2012 to June 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Twenty-one cases were treated with ultrasound-guided thrombin injection for pseudoaneurysms (Ultrasound group), and seven cases were treated with DSA-mediated balloon occlusion and thrombin injection for pseudoaneurysms (DSA group). The patients were followed-up at 1 day, 1 month and 3 monthS after operation.ResultsThe total success rates of the two groups were 100%. There was no treatment-related complications in the two groups. There was no recurrence after 1–3 months of treatment.ConclusionsIntratumoral injection of thrombin can be used for the treatment of iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm. The effect of the improved treatment is more significant. These two methods can be used as the best way to treat iatrogenic pseudoaneurysm with different neck diameters.