Lateral approach water bath method leads to better ultrasound images

Researchers are highlighting the success of a lateral approach water bath for ultrasonic imaging of the hand, their results being published November 15 in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. A team led by Jennifer Cotton, MD, from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, found that its method resulted in images that were of higher quality, more consistency, and more clinical usefulness than those from traditional water bath imaging. “Based on this it appears the lateral approach water bath is a valuable, feasible tool for high-quality ultrasound imaging of superficial structures in the hand,” Cotton and colleagues wrote. Traditional water baths for ultrasound exams see the hand placed into a pan of water and from there, an ultrasound probe is submerged into the water. Despite improvements in imaging through this method, the researchers pointed out its drawbacks. These include pain or movement restrictions of the injured hand and the probe having to be held still in water to minimize motion artifacts. Cotton's group highlighted that the lateral approach water bath method addresses these limitations by imaging through the side of a thin-walled plastic container without submerging the probe. They sought to compare the quality of ultrasound images generated using traditional and lateral approach water bath methods. The researchers included 20 images from each method in their study, which were acquired from the same model and operator simultaneously. From there, ...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Ultrasound Musculoskeletal Radiology Source Type: news