Although interest in the technology has grown, the problem of standardizing ultrasound scanning remains, according to study presenter Dr. Stéphanie Pitre-Champagnat from Institut Gustave Roussy in Villejuif. For this study, Pitre-Champagnat and colleagues validated a new method of standardizing the contrast mode of two different ultrasound scanners.
The study included two scanners with the same 3.5-MHz probe (Aplio XV and Aplio 500, Toshiba Medical Systems). Aplio XV served as the reference device; settings included the unit's mechanical index, gain, and acoustic power.
As a control method, the researchers used variations of the enhanced signal intensity for four concentrations of the SonoVue contrast agent (Bracco Imaging) -- ranging from 50% to 100% -- through a phantom of a single 2-mm tube.
Pitre-Champagnat and colleagues based their test method on variations of the enhanced signal intensity, with different absorptions of the ultrasound signal measured on a phantom designed with four thicknesses ranging from 1 cm to 4 cm.
They found that both methods required the same mechanical index, gain, and acoustic power settings for each device. The control method took 12 hours and had 15% variability, whereas the test method took three hours and had 7% variability. This led the team to conclude that the new method could make multicenter studies for dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound more feasible.
