Strain-elastography and shear-wave-elastography are both sonographic methods used to assess the stiffness of tissue [1,2]. Both methods have been used in assessing malignancy in focal lesions [3,4], and recently a comparative study of diagnostic performance in breast cancer diagnosis of the two methods was published [5]. Strain-elastography displays tissue strain in either color- or a grey scale elastograms. The elastograms can be semi-quantified using either strain-ratios (SR) [6] or strain-histograms (SH) [7], where the strain of the lesion is related to the strain of the...

Examinations were performed on an Acuson S3000 system (Siemens, Mountain View, CA, USA). All examinations were done by two investigators on an elasticity phantom (Elasticity QA, model 049A, CIRS (CIRS, Virginia, USA)) (Figure 1). Twenty targets of varying diameter (16.7, 10.4, 6.5, 4.1 and 2.5 mm) and stiffness (80, 45, 14, and 8 kPa), placed at a depth of 3.5 cm were scanned. Both strain- and shear-wave-elastography was performed ten times for each of the targets scanned, yielding 200 measurements for each method used. For...

Results: The mean shear-wave-velocities, strain-ratios and strain-histogram values with corresponding standard deviations are presented in table 1. Table 1 80 kPa 45 kPa 14 kPa 8 kPa SWV 2.93 (0.54) 2.76 (0.34) 1.98 (0.21) 1.70 (0.37) SH 208.6 (18.5) 145.0 (27.3) 71.3 (27.1) 44.5 (17.0) SR 2.12 (0.67) 1.16 (0.20) 0.68 (0.15) 0.48 (0.10) Means and standard deviations from each of the different target stiffness measured for each of the methods evaluated. 50 scans of each target stiffness was performed. The p-values of the comparison...

Our study shows that different elastographic methods perform differently in targets of varying stiffness. As the mean elasticity of malignant tumors differ from tissue to tissue [9], one should consider which elastographic method to use in different tissues. In stiffer lesions (high kPa), strain elastography seems to be better at discerning different target elasticities from each other. Furthermore we have shown that one should consider the size of the lesion evaluated when doing both strain- and shear-wave elastography, as size has significant impact on both...

1. Bamber J, Cosgrove D, Dietrich CF, Fromageau J, Bojunga J, et al. (2013) EFSUMB Guidelines and Recommendations on the Clinical Use of Ultrasound Elastography. Part 1: Basic Principles and Technology. Ultraschall Med 34: 169–184. doi:10.1055/s-0033-1335205. 2. Cosgrove D, Piscaglia F, Bamber J, Bojunga J, Correas J-M, et al. (2013) EFSUMB Guidelines and Recommendations on the Clinical Use of Ultrasound Elastography.Part 2: Clinical Applications. Ultraschall in der Medizin - European Journal of Ultrasound 34: 238–253. doi:10.1055/s-0033-1335375. 3. Sadigh G, Carlos R, Neal C, Dwamena B...