Dear Ultrasound Insider,
Ultrasound is useful across a range of applications, not the least of which is the diagnosis of breast cancer. Because ultrasound tends to be less expensive to use than other imaging modalities -- and it doesn't impart radiation -- it's no wonder that the use of the modality has been on the rise.
Yet despite its benefits, ultrasound does have a key limitation: user variability. To mitigate this, researchers have experimented with using computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) with ultrasound, and studies show that CAD does, in fact, improve overall radiologist performance. But can CAD also improve the performance of breast imagers at different experience levels?
A South Korean research team says yes. The group found that using CAD with breast ultrasound improves the diagnostic performance of breast imagers who have different levels of experience. Find out more in our Insider Exclusive.
After you've read our featured article, take a look at what else is going on in the Ultrasound Community:
- Read what contributing writer and sonographer Casey Davis has to say about the benefits of blended learning for sonography.
- Learn how shear-wave elastography (SWE) can help clinicians evaluate Achilles tendon health in both athletes and nonathletes.
- Find out about ultrasound technology a California start-up is developing to test patients for stroke in the same way electrocardiograms assess heart-attack patients.
- Can prenatal ultrasound predict Zika infection outcomes? Perhaps, say Brazilian researchers.
- Discover why 2D SWE is an effective tool for ruling out liver fibrosis or cirrhosis in people with chronic liver disease.
If you have a comment or report to share about any aspect of ultrasound imaging, I invite you to contact me.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
