Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of a noninvasive ultrasound-based method,\r\nvibro-acoustography (VA), for thyroid imaging and determine the feasibility and challenges of VA in detecting\r\nnodules in thyroid.\r\nMethods: Our study included two parts. First, in an in vitro study, experiments were conducted on a number of\r\nexcised thyroid specimens randomly taken from autopsy. Three types of images were acquired from most of the\r\nspecimens: X-ray, B-mode ultrasound, and vibro-acoustography. The second and main part of the study includes\r\nresults from performing VA and B-mode ultrasound imaging on 24 human subjects with thyroid nodules. The\r\nresults were evaluated and compared qualitatively.\r\nResults: In vitro vibro-acoustography images displayed soft tissue structures, microcalcifications, cysts and nodules\r\nwith high contrast and no speckle. In this group, all of US proven nodules and all of X-ray proven calcifications of\r\nthyroid tissues were detected by VA. In vivo results showed 100% of US proven calcifications and 91% of the US\r\ndetected nodules were identified by VA, however, some artifacts were present in some cases.\r\nConclusions: In vitro and in vivo VA images show promising results for delineating the detailed structure of the\r\nthyroid, finding nodules and in particular calcifications with greater clarity compare to US. Our findings suggest\r\nthat, with further development, VA may be a suitable imaging modality for clinical thyroid imaging.
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