Two Quantitative UltraSound (QUS) studies will be discussed that demonstrate significant potential for translation to human conditions.
One of the studies deals with the early detection of spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB). In a cohort of 68 adult African American women, each agreed to undergo up to 5 transvaginal ultrasound examinations for cervical ultrasonic attenuation (at 5 MHz) and cervical length between 20 & 36 wks gestation (GA). At 21 wks GA, the women who delivered preterm had a lower mean attenuation (1.02±0.16 dB/cm-MHz) than the women delivering at term (1.39±0.095 dB/cm-MHz), p= 0.041. Cervical length at 21 wks was not significantly different between groups. Attenuation risk of SPTB (1.2 dB/cm-MHz threshold at 21 wks) : specificity = 83.3%, sensitivity = 65.4%.
The other QUS study deals with the early detection of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Liver attenuation (ATN) and backscattered coefficients (BSC) were assessed at 3 MHz and compared to the liver MR-derived fat fraction (FF) in a cohort of 106 adult subjects. At a 5% FF (for NAFLD, FF ≥ 5%), an ATN threshold of 0.78 dB/cm-MHz provided a sensitivity of 89%, and specificity of 84% whereas a BSC threshold of 0.0028/cm-sr provided a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 96%.