Differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions by ultrasound localization microscopy.

IF 4.1 2区医学 Q1 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

Insights into Imaging Pub Date : 2025-06-18 DOI:10.1186/s13244-025-02013-6

Jia Li, Cong Wei, Tao Ying, Yan Liu, Ronghui Wang, Maoyao Li, Chao Feng, Di Sun, Yuanyi Zheng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: We investigated the role of ultrasound localization microscopy (ULM) qualitative and quantitative parameters in distinguishing benign from malignant breast lesions.

Methods: The ULM qualitative and quantitative parameters of breast lesions were recorded. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was applied to assess the diagnostic performance of ULM. Intra- and inter-operator reliabilities of quantitative parameters were assessed.

Results: Thirty-one breast lesions were verified by pathologic results, 14 of which were benign and 17 were malignant. Benign lesions were associated with dot-like, line-like, or branch-like patterns (93% vs 6%), whereas malignant lesions were associated with chaotic patterns (94% vs 7%) (p < 0.001). The microvasculature morphology had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.935, a sensitivity of 94.1%, and a specificity of 92.9%. The microvasculature density, mean diameter, largest diameter, and max tortuosity of malignant lesions were significantly greater than those of benign lesions (p < 0.05, p < 0.001, p < 0.001, p < 0.05). The microvasculature mean flow velocity of benign lesions was significantly greater than that of malignant lesions (p < 0.05). For the quantitative parameters, the AUC was highest for the microvasculature's largest diameter (0.962), with a sensitivity of 88.2% and a specificity of 92.9%. The intra- and inter-operator reliabilities of quantitative parameters were excellent (ICC greater than 0.90).

Conclusions: ULM is useful for distinguishing benign from malignant breast lesions. ULM can offer a new diagnostic method for breast lesions, which deserves further research.

Critical relevance statement: This study suggests that ULM is a new technology with super-resolution that is helpful for distinguishing benign from malignant breast lesions.

Trial registration: ChiCTR, ChiCTR2100048361. Registered 6 July 2021, https://www.chictr.org.cn/ .

Key points: ULM is an emerging technology that can detect highly detailed networks of microvasculature. Microvasculature morphology based on ULM can be a good indicator for the differential diagnosis of breast lesions. Among quantitative parameters extracted from ULM, microvasculature largest diameter was the best for the classification of breast lesions.

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超声定位显微镜鉴别乳腺良恶性病变。

目的：探讨超声定位显微镜（ULM）定性和定量参数在鉴别乳腺良恶性病变中的作用。方法：记录乳腺病变的ULM定性和定量参数。采用受试者工作特征（ROC）曲线评价ULM的诊断效果。定量参数在操作者内部和操作者之间的可靠性进行了评估。结果：经病理证实的乳腺病变31例，其中良性14例，恶性17例。良性病变呈点状、线状或分支状（93%比6%），而恶性病变呈混沌状（94%比7%）(p结论：ULM可用于区分乳腺良恶性病变。ULM为乳腺病变的诊断提供了新的方法，值得进一步研究。关键相关声明：本研究提示ULM是一种超分辨率的新技术，有助于区分乳腺良恶性病变。试验注册号：ChiCTR， ChiCTR2100048361。ULM是一项新兴技术，可以检测高度详细的微血管网络。基于ULM的微血管形态学可作为乳腺病变鉴别诊断的良好指标。在ULM提取的定量参数中，微血管最大直径对乳腺病变的分类效果最好。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Insights into Imaging Medicine-Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

CiteScore

7.30

自引率

4.30%

发文量

182

审稿时长

13 weeks

期刊介绍： Insights into Imaging (I³) is a peer-reviewed open access journal published under the brand SpringerOpen. All content published in the journal is freely available online to anyone, anywhere! I³ continuously updates scientific knowledge and progress in best-practice standards in radiology through the publication of original articles and state-of-the-art reviews and opinions, along with recommendations and statements from the leading radiological societies in Europe. Founded by the European Society of Radiology (ESR), I³ creates a platform for educational material, guidelines and recommendations, and a forum for topics of controversy. A balanced combination of review articles, original papers, short communications from European radiological congresses and information on society matters makes I³ an indispensable source for current information in this field. I³ is owned by the ESR, however authors retain copyright to their article according to the Creative Commons Attribution License (see Copyright and License Agreement). All articles can be read, redistributed and reused for free, as long as the author of the original work is cited properly. The open access fees (article-processing charges) for this journal are kindly sponsored by ESR for all Members. The journal went open access in 2012, which means that all articles published since then are freely available online.