B-mode color sonographic images in obstetrics and gynecology: preliminary report.

The standard B-mode image shows 256 levels of gray, but the human eye can only differentiate 8-16 shades of gray. Color vision theoretically has several advantages in comparison with gray scale, because the human eye can distinguish 128 fully saturated hues and about 350,000 shades. In 1992, B-mode color maps were introduced in our clinical practice, to establish whether this technology was able to detect the smallest contrast differences better than the gray-scale map and therefore to increase diagnostic accuracy. This paper describes our experience with the technique and reports B-mode color images of clinical complications in obstetrics and gynecology. We use the color figures to illustrate this new technology and to demonstrate the advantages of the increased sensitivity of the human eye to color in different clinical situations. We conclude that the use of B-mode color maps does not change the ultrasonic diagnosis, but does enhance our ability to study and evaluate the morphological structure of different tissues, compared to the gray-scale map alone.