Freesmeyer Martin, Knichel Leonard, Kuehnel Christian, Winkens Thomas
Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena , Germany.
Med Ultrason. 2018 Dec 8;20(4):480-486. doi: 10.11152/mu-1687.
Thyroid volume has to be measured in goiters prior to radioiodine treatment to calculate the needed amount of radioactivity. Modern clinical equipment for ultrasonography shows the trend to smaller probes, so that larger goiters do not fit any longer into the probe's field of view. This study evaluated the feasibility and accuracy of stitching procedures applied to thyroid volumetric analysis performed using three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US).
Ad hoc thyroid phantoms of different shapes (regular, nodular, thickened isthmus) and volumes (ranging between 50 and 400 mL) were developed. In 15 such phantoms the left and right lobes were separately scanned, and the 3D-US datasets were then assembled (stitched) using predefined landmarks and dedicated software. Volumetric analysis was then assessed via a conventional ellipsoid model (em) and manual tracing (mt). The correlation of measured and reference volumes was determined using Pearson's correlation coefficients and Bland and Altman limits of agreement.
The results showed a high level of agreement (with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.974 to 0.999) for all shapes and volumes tested, including the largest volume of 400 mL. The mt method, although more time consuming, proved superior to the em.
Stitching-mediated thyroid volumetric analysis is accurate, and its clinical performance should be investigated in future studies.
在放射性碘治疗前，必须测量甲状腺肿的甲状腺体积，以计算所需的放射性剂量。现代临床超声设备呈现出探头尺寸变小的趋势，以至于较大的甲状腺肿不再能完全纳入探头的视野范围。本研究评估了应用于三维超声（3D-US）甲状腺容积分析的拼接程序的可行性和准确性。
制作了不同形状（规则形、结节形、峡部增厚形）和体积（50至400毫升之间）的特制甲状腺模型。对15个这样的模型分别扫描左右叶，然后使用预定义的标记点和专用软件将3D-US数据集进行拼接。随后通过传统的椭球体模型（em）和手动追踪（mt）评估容积分析。使用Pearson相关系数以及Bland和Altman一致性界限来确定测量体积与参考体积之间的相关性。
结果显示，对于所有测试的形状和体积，包括最大体积为400毫升的情况，均具有高度一致性（相关系数范围为0.974至0.999）。mt方法虽然耗时更长，但证明优于em方法。
拼接介导的甲状腺容积分析是准确的，其临床性能应在未来的研究中进行调查。
