{"title":"Factors influencing treatment outcomes of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency in chronic sacroiliac joint pain: a 6-month follow-up study.","authors":"Ümit Akkemik, Meryem Onay, Mehmet Sacit Güleç","doi":"10.11152/mu-4522","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4522","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate the effect of ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency applied to the L5 dorsal ramus and the lateral branches of the posterior primary rami at S1-3 for chronic sacroiliac joint pain and identify factors associated with treatment success.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>This retrospective study included 58 patients with chronic sacroiliac joint pain who underwent ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment after failing conservative management. Treatment success was defined as ≥50% improvement in the NRS score at the 6-month follow-up. Demographic, clinical, and procedural factors were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The successful treatment group (n=26, 44.8%) showed significant reduction in median NRS pain scores from 7.00 to 2.00 (p<0.001) and marked improvement in ODI functional scores. Factors significantly associated with success included younger age (p=0.02), lower BMI (p<0.001), shorter symptom duration (p<0.001), nonsmoking status (p<0.001), and absence of previous spinal (p=0.03) or hip surgery (p=0.04). Early response to treatment was predictive of long-term success.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Ultrasound-guided pulsed radiofrequency treatment provided significant pain reduction in approximately half of the patients with chronic sacroiliac joint pain at 6-month follow-up. Identified predictive factors may improve patient selection and treatment outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144311125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sunita Abplanalp, Roman Hari, Michael Blaivas, Susan Campbell Westerway, Maria Cristina Chammas, Beatrice Hoffmann, Christian Jenssen, Kwok-Yin Leung, Kathleen Möller, Zhu Qingli, Hassan Rahhal, Yung-Liang Wan, Johannes Weimer, Christoph Frank Dietrich
{"title":"History of student ultrasound education: learning from working examples.","authors":"Sunita Abplanalp, Roman Hari, Michael Blaivas, Susan Campbell Westerway, Maria Cristina Chammas, Beatrice Hoffmann, Christian Jenssen, Kwok-Yin Leung, Kathleen Möller, Zhu Qingli, Hassan Rahhal, Yung-Liang Wan, Johannes Weimer, Christoph Frank Dietrich","doi":"10.11152/mu-4524","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4524","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ultrasound has become an essential tool in clinical diagnosis. Traditionally, ultrasound was predominantly taught during postgraduate medical training. However, today ultrasound education is increasingly being incorporated into preclinical curricula of medical students. Although extensive literature on individual ultrasound training programs is available, research on the effective development and implementation of ultrasound education for students remains limited. This article identified five key considerations for incorporating student ultrasound education into existing medical curricula, based on an analysis of working examples in various parts of the world: The synergistic relationship between anatomy and ultrasound, didactic evolutions such peer-assisted learning, the role of Point-of-Care-Ultrasound (POCUS) and e-Learning in resource-limited settings, the considerations of possible side effects and lastly, the early engagement with key stakeholders. These five key considerationsshould help the successful and long-term development, adaptation and implementation of a new or existing ultrasound education program in undergraduate education, thereby contributing to the training of competent future healthcare professionals.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144311126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Carmelo Pirri, Nina Pirri, Veronica Macchi, Andrea Porzionato, Raffaele De Caro, Carla Stecco, Levent Özçakar
{"title":"Does intraoperative ultrasonography improve surgical precision/ outcome? A bibliometric/narrative analysis.","authors":"Carmelo Pirri, Nina Pirri, Veronica Macchi, Andrea Porzionato, Raffaele De Caro, Carla Stecco, Levent Özçakar","doi":"10.11152/mu-4523","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4523","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) has emerged as a pivotal imaging modality, enhancing surgical precision and patient outcomes across a wide spectrum of medical disciplines. This paper explores the technological advancements, clinical applications and potential limitations of IOUS. Additionally, it discusses the future potential and integration with other imaging modalities to foster minimally invasive and precision-guided surgery. By providing a detailed bibliometric and narrative review, this study aims to consolidate current knowledge while identifying areas for further research.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144311067","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ultrasonographic characteristics of BI-RADS category 4 breast lesions in males.","authors":"Suting Zong, Ruifang Xu, Yujiang Liu","doi":"10.11152/mu-4510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4510","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate the ultrasonographic features of male breast nodules classified as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 4.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis of 79 breast nodules from 77 male patients, classified as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 4 after ultrasonography, was conducted. The ultrasonographic features of benign and malignant nodules were evaluated and compared. Independent risk factors for malignancy were identified by logistic regression analysis. In addition, we conducted a subgroup analysis comparing the ultrasonographic features of gynecomastia and malignant nodules in male breasts.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Differences were found in age of onset, calcifications, aspect ratio greater than 1/2, Adler grading of blood flow, and axillary lymph nodes. The presence of calcifications was an independent risk factor for malignancy in males. The results of the comparison between gynecomastia and breast cancer were essentially consistent with the former. However, the differences in calcifications were not as significant as those observed in the former.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We identified differences in age of onset, calcification, aspect ratio greater than 1/2, blood flow, and axillary lymph nodes between benign and malignant male breast nodules classified as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 4, with calcification being an independent risk factor for malignancy. These features can help determine the nature of the nodules and guide biopsy decisions.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144035184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Diana Crisan, Alexandru Badea, Sorina Danescu, Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek, Radu Badea, Christoph F Dietrich, Maria Crisan
{"title":"Comments on EFSUMB recommendations, the role of ultrasound in benign skin lesions.","authors":"Diana Crisan, Alexandru Badea, Sorina Danescu, Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek, Radu Badea, Christoph F Dietrich, Maria Crisan","doi":"10.11152/mu-4508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4508","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) has been publishing guidelines, position papers and also technical reviews. In addition, comments have been published for illustration of such papers including recently the role of ultrasound in cutaneous neoplasms but also in the hepatobiliary system, pancreas, lung and other organs. In the current paper, we aim to summarize the typical sonographic findings of the most commonly benign cutaneous lesions.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144059197","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Influence of an ultrasound-guided catheter-over-needle technique on the incidence of intravascular injection during caudal epidural injections: a prospective, randomized clinical trial.","authors":"Byeongcheol Lee, Daeseok Oh","doi":"10.11152/mu-4507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4507","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Caudal epidural injection is used for lumbosacral radicular pain but there is a risk of vascular injection. An ultrasound-guided catheter-over-needle technique was proposed to reduce this risk. This study compared the incidence of vascular injections between the catheter-over-needle and Tuohy needle methods for caudal epidural injections.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong> This prospective, randomized clinical trial included patients aged ≥19 years with degenerative lumbar disease accompanied by radicular pain who were unresponsive to non-invasive treatments and scheduled for caudal epidural injection. The participants were randomized into two groups: catheter-over-needle and Tuohy needle groups. Under ultrasound guidance, the contrast medium was injected and observed in real time using fluoroscopy. An independent physician assessed the vascular injection rates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The incidence of vascular injection was significantly lower in the catheter-over-needle group (15.7%) than in the Tuohy needle group (37.5%; p=0.014). Chronic pain lasting >12 months was a significant risk factor for vascular injection (p=0.035). However, no statistically significant association was found between sacral opening depth and vascular injection, although the sacral opening depth was shorter in patients who received intravascular injections.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The catheter-over-needle technique significantly reduces the risk of vascular injection. The depth of the sacral opening may also influence vascular injection.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144061253","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xuefeng Li, Ziman Chen, Ting Xie, Jieyi Liang, Fei Chen
{"title":"Enhancing sonologist examination performance with large language models: an analytical study of ChatGPT-4 and Claude 3.","authors":"Xuefeng Li, Ziman Chen, Ting Xie, Jieyi Liang, Fei Chen","doi":"10.11152/mu-4505","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4505","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate the effectiveness of two large language models, ChatGPT-4 and Claude 3, in improving the accuracy of question responses by senior sonologist and junior sonologist.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>A senior and a junior sonologist were given a practice exam. After answering the questions, they reviewed the responses and explanations provided by ChatGPT-4 and Claude 3. The accuracy and scores before and after incorporating the models' input were analyzed to compare their effectiveness.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No statistically significant differences were found between the two models' responses scores for each section (all p>0.05). For junior sonologist, both ChatGPT-4 (p=0.039) and Claude 3 (p=0.039) significantly improved scores in basic knowledge. The responses provided by ChatGPT-4 also significantly improved scores in relevant professional knowledge (p=0.038), though their explanations did not (p=0.077). For all exam sections, both models' responses and explanations significantly improved scores (all p<0.05). For senior sonologist, both ChatGPT-4's responses (p=0.022) and explanations (p=0.034) improved scores in basic knowledge, as did Claude 3's explanations (p=0.003). Across all sections, Claude 3's explanations significantly improved scores (p=0.041).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>ChatGPT-4 and Claude 3 significantly improved sonologist' examination performance, particularly in basic knowledge.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144055999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexis Delpierre, Baptiste Ait Slimane, Laurent Estrade, Juliette Manget, Samuel Callé, Franck Levassort, Frédéric Denis, Gaël Y Rochefort, Matthieu Renaud
{"title":"Sulcus measurement by high frequency ultrasound imaging ex-vivo: an exploratory study.","authors":"Alexis Delpierre, Baptiste Ait Slimane, Laurent Estrade, Juliette Manget, Samuel Callé, Franck Levassort, Frédéric Denis, Gaël Y Rochefort, Matthieu Renaud","doi":"10.11152/mu-4506","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4506","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of this study was to compare the measurement of periodontal pocket by ultrasound in comparison with gold standard measurements ex-vivo.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>A total of 12 hemi-jaws were included in the study. Ultrasound measurements of the sulcus were performed and then, sulcus depth was measured by manual probing. The reading of the ultrasound images was carried using ImageJ software. Reference points are made allowing the measurement of this sulcular space. To assess the hypothesis of normality of the data, a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was performed for each of the samples due to the size of their population (>50). To complete this test, Lin's concordance test was also applied.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 348 manual probing and 348 ultrasound imagines measurements were performed. The Lin concordance and correlation coefficients and their 95% confidence intervals obtained were 0.855 (95% CI [0.822; 0.855]). These data allow us to demonstrate the equivalence between the measurement of the depth of the periodontal pocket by ultrasound imaging and the measurement by manual probing.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study shows that the use of an ultrasound probe for periodontal imaging was comparable to the current gold standard for measuring the sulcus area. These promising results must be confirmed by measurements in humans.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144059473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A machine learning model based on high-frequency ultrasound for differentiating benign and malignant skin tumors.","authors":"Yishuo Qin, Zhirou Zhang, Xiaomeng Qu, Weijie Liu, Yumei Yan, Yanli Huang","doi":"10.11152/mu-4504","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4504","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>This study aims to explore the potential of machine learning as a non-invasive automated tool for skin tumor differentiation.</p><p><strong>Material and methods: </strong>Data were included from 156 lesions, collected retrospectively from September 2021 to February 2024. Univariate and multivariate analyses of traditional clinical features were performed to establish a logistic regression model. Ultrasound-based radiomics features are extracted from grayscale images after delineating regions of interest (ROIs). Independent samples t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression were employed to select ultrasound-based radiomics features. Subsequently, five machine learning methods were used to construct radiomics models based on the selected features. Model performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the Delong test.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Age, poorly defined margins, and irregular shape were identified as independent risk factors for malignant skin tumors. The multilayer perception (MLP) model achieved the best performance, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.963 and 0.912, respectively. The results of DeLong's test revealed a statistically significant discrepancy in efficacy between the MLP and clinical models (Z=2.611, p=0.009).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Machine learning based skin tumor models may serve as a potential non-invasive method to improve diagnostic efficiency.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144002249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christoph F Dietrich, Frauke Petersen, Michael Höpfner, Dieter Nürnberg, Deike Strobel, Johanna Vogelpohl, Christian Jenssen
{"title":"Ultrasound for detection of complications and evaluation of treatment response in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?","authors":"Christoph F Dietrich, Frauke Petersen, Michael Höpfner, Dieter Nürnberg, Deike Strobel, Johanna Vogelpohl, Christian Jenssen","doi":"10.11152/mu-4493","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.11152/mu-4493","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ultrasound (US) can be performed at the point of care by the treating physician, is safe, well tolerated and, therefore, can be repeated as often as clinically required and shortens the time to decision. An invaluable advantage of US is that the imaging is real-time and pathophysiological phenomena can be visualized dynamically. In addition, the multiparametric capabilities of US facilitate the evaluation of intestinal, peri-intestinal and some of the extra-intestinal manifestations of inflammatory boweldiseases (IBD).In the current series of papers a synopsis of recommendations for ultrasound in IBD guidelines, ultrasound parameters in inflammatory bowel disease including activities scores, the value of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), small intestinal contrast ultrasound (SICUS) and elastography, perineal ultrasound (PNUS), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) including endorectal ultrasound (ERUS) and interventional ultrasound (INVUS) have been discussed and illustrated. This review discusses advantages, accuracy and limitations of ultrasound techniques for the diagnosis of intestinal, periintestinal and extra-intestinal complications of MC and CU and for monitoring treatment response.</p>","PeriodicalId":94138,"journal":{"name":"Medical ultrasonography","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144047550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}