Elastography of superficial organs

Course curriculum

• Elastography in the practice of an ultrasound diagnostics physician
  • — 1.1 Fundamental difference in image construction and visualization in B-mode and in elastography
  • — 1.2 The concept of stiffness and elasticity
  • — 1.3 Dependence of the elastogram on tissue histology
  • — 1.4 Principles of elastography – Young’s modulus, Shear (G) modulus, Bulk modulus
  • — 1.5 Types of impact on the tissues under study
  • — 1.6 Types of elastography and their principles of operation – Strain, Shear Wave, ARFI, TE
  • — 1.7 Main methods of elastogram interpretation
• Elastography of the breast, testes and thyroid gland
  • — 2.1 Breast elastography as the primary source of the method
  • — 2.2 Scanning technique of superficial organs – 3 main maneuvers when using elastography of superficial organs
  • — 2.3 Advantages and limitations of the maneuvers
  • — 2.4 Image quality criteria when examining superficial organs
  • — 2.5 Selection of the region of interest size and quality control systems
  • — 2.6 Near-field artifacts
  • — 2.7 Methods for assessing lesions of superficial organs – E/B ratio, length ratio, width ratio, area ratio
  • — 2.8 Working principles of Strain Ratio – Lesion-to-fat ratio, Lesion-to-Parenchyma Ratio, Share wave measurement
  • — 2.9 Threshold criteria - Cut-off criteria of breast assessment methods
  • — 2.10 Visual assessment systems – Tsukubo scale, bull eye pattern, BGR pattern
  • — 2.11 Relationship between the Bi-RADS US system and elastography, algorithm for correcting the Bi-RADS US assessment, determination of the true tumor size
  • — 2.12 Share Wave assessment criteria – color map and absolute values. Features of elastography in tumor and non-tumor lesions of superficial organs
• Modern approaches to thyroid elastography
  • — 3.1 Rules for working with compression (Strain) elastography and shear wave elastography (SWE, Share Wave), limitations of the methods
  • — 3.2 Maneuvers in the technique of thyroid elastography, features of scanning the isthmus
  • — 3.3 Principles of field-of-view selection and the technique of working with the Strain Ratio method: Lesion-to-muscle ratio, Lesion-to-Parenchyma Ratio
  • — 3.4 Application of visual scales for assessing thyroid formations, their use for identifying indications for gland biopsy (FNA) - the RAGO color scale and the Ding black-and-white scale
  • — 3.5 Relationship between Ti-RADS and elastography. Features of elastography in normal parenchyma and thyroiditis. Cut-off criteria of thyroid assessment methods
• Testicular scanning technique using elastography, the role of elastography among scanning methods
  • — 4.1 Normal picture and pathology picture
  • — 4.2 Why is vibration elastography not used?
  • — 4.3 Correlation of the elastogram with histological structure
  • — 4.4 Capabilities of compression (strain) elastography and shear wave elastography (Shear Wave, SWE) in detecting benign and malignant lesions
  • — 4.5 Application of visual assessment scales for testicular lesions – the VES scale. Cut-off criteria of the assessment methods
  • — 4.6 Informativeness of elastography in testicular torsion
  • — 4.7 Features of testicular tumors in elastography modes: germ cell tumors (seminomas), non-seminomatous tumors (carcinoma, teratoma, choriocarcinoma, mixed tumors), stromal cell tumors (Sertoli and Leydig), lymphomas, epidermoid and dermoid lesions, testicular hemangiomas
  • — 4.8 Features of non-tumor testicular lesions in elastography modes: orchitis, cysts, focal infarction, torsion, hematoma, fibrosis