Draghi Ferdinando, Lomoro Pascal, Bortolotto Chandra, Mastrogirolamo Luca, Calliada Fabrizio
Radiology Department, Fondazione IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
Hitachi Medical Systems Europe Holding AG, Steinhausen, Switzerland.
Acta Radiol. 2020 Dec;61(12):1653-1660. doi: 10.1177/0284185120907983. Epub 2020 Mar 4.
The capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) is a new ultrasound (US) probe manufactured by state-of-the-art cutting-edge semi-conductor micromachined electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology.
To demonstrate the peculiar characteristics of each probe and the limitations that should be improved.
This study was performed from March to April 2018. The only inclusion criterion was the presence of disease, so all patients with musculoskeletal, skin, and subcutaneous pathology were included. A total of 66 patients entered this study. The exams of each patient, with both probes, were evaluated retrospectively and independently by three radiologists. Panoramicity of the images, the definition of superficial structures (<2 cm of depth), the definition of deep structures (>2 cm), and Doppler signal were assessed. A 5-point scale was used for each parameter.
A total of 89 pathologies were detected. The mean of score for 4G-CMUT was higher than L64 for the panoramicity of the images and the definition of the deep structures. Instead, the mean score for L64 was higher than for 4G-CMUT in the evaluation of superficial structures and Doppler signal. A statistically significant difference was found ( < 0.05).
CMUT is a breakthrough in US technology. It allows the use of a single probe for different US examinations. The musculoskeletal, skin, and subcutaneous US can be evaluated with a piezoelectric linear transducer or CMUT. In the present study, the overall diagnostic performance was similar. Improvements in CMUT will provide even more dynamic and flexible imaging capabilities by a transducer, with a wider bandwidth.
电容式微机电超声换能器（CMUT）是一种采用先进的前沿半导体微机电系统（MEMS）技术制造的新型超声探头。
展示每种探头的独特特性以及应改进的局限性。
本研究于2018年3月至4月进行。唯一的纳入标准是存在疾病，因此纳入了所有患有肌肉骨骼、皮肤和皮下病变的患者。共有66例患者进入本研究。由三名放射科医生对每位患者使用两种探头进行的检查进行回顾性和独立评估。评估图像的全景性、浅表结构（深度<2 cm）的清晰度、深部结构（深度>2 cm）的清晰度以及多普勒信号。每个参数采用5分制。
共检测到89种病变。在图像全景性和深部结构清晰度方面，4G-CMUT的平均得分高于L64。相反，在浅表结构和多普勒信号评估中，L64的平均得分高于4G-CMUT。发现有统计学显著差异（<0.05）。
CMUT是超声技术的一项突破。它允许使用单个探头进行不同的超声检查。肌肉骨骼、皮肤和皮下超声检查可用压电线性换能器或CMUT进行评估。在本研究中，整体诊断性能相似。CMUT的改进将通过具有更宽带宽的换能器提供更具动态性和灵活性的成像能力。
