The technology of color Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) was more and more popularly applied to the clinical diagnosis of erectile dysfunction (ED) in recent years since its introduction into this domain by Lue et al. CDU is preferable as a diagnostic means for its advantages of being convenient, non-impairing and easily repeatable. Nowadays, CDU is becoming a hotpoint of research. However, CDU still has some defects that have limited its application. This article reviews its mechanism, usage, research development and application combined with other diagnostic means, and introduces a new type of power-Doppler imaging.
Erectile Dysfunction ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Male ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; methods

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the diagnostic value of color Doppler ultrasonography for epididymitis.

METHODSHigh frequency color Doppler ultrasonography was performed in 42 patients with epididymitis and 21 health volunteers.

RESULTSCompared with control group, epididymis enlarged significantly all in head, body and tail in 92% of patients with epididymitis. Bilateral epididymitis occurred in 73% of patients. Color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI), in patient group, showed the markedly increased flow signals bright in bundle in epididymis. Mild hydroccele of testis and orchitis were companied in most patients(93%). Orchitis was often complicated in the patients with long history.

CONCLUSIONSHigh frequency color Doppler ultrasonography can be a preferred exam method and has diagnostic value for epididymitis.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Epididymitis ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; methods

In this paper the theory of autocorrelation algorithm for color flow mapping is analyzed and a new way for ultrasound color flow velocity estimation and real-time display is proposed. The method sets up a mapping table which directly relates to the dynamic display range and has only 256 entries using an inverse mapping method instead of calculating the arctangent value directly. This method is ideal for software implementation and offers an interactive way to the user for changing the dynamic range of flow velocity and thus to increasing the display resolution.
Algorithms ; Blood Flow Velocity ; Humans ; Pulsatile Flow ; physiology ; Rheology ; instrumentation ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; instrumentation ; methods

Objective We investigated the efficacy and safety of 1064 nm Nd: YAG laser, intense pulsed light (IPL), and lauromacrogol injection in the treatment of hemangioma, in order to evaluate the value of color Doppler ultrasound guidance in choosing the optimal treatment modality. Methods Infantile patients who were clinical diagnosed as hemangiomas were randomly divided into group A, who had color Doppler ultrasound examinations before the treatment, and group B who had the treatment without ultrasound evaluation. Patients in the group A were assigned into subgroups according to the depth of lesion by sonography: group A-1 for those who had a lesion depth <1.2 mm, and took intense pulsed light therapy; group A-2 for those who had a lesion depth ≥1.2mm and < 3 mm, and took long pulse 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser therapy; group A-3 for those who had a lesion depth ≥3mm and <5 mm, and were treated by IPL combined with long pulse 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser treatment; Group A-4 for those who had a lesion depth ≥5 mm, and took lauromacrogol injection therapy. Patients in the group B took long pulse 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser treatment without preoperative ultrasound evaluation. The efficacy and adverse reactions of the treatments between the groups were evaluated and compared statistically.Results Totally 113 patients with 128 skin lesions were enrolled in this study, 85 in the group A (mean age 6.8±7.9 months) and 28 in the group B (mean age 6.9±9.9 months). The mean depth of hemangioma was 3.3±1.1 mm in the group A, ranging from 0.5-7.8 mm, with 0.8±0.4 mm, 2.2±0.4 mm, 4.2±0.6 mm and 6.2±0.7 mm in group A1, A2, A3 and A4, respectively. The cure rates and effective rates in the group A were significantly higher than those in the group B (cure rates: 64.5% vs 56.3%, U=3.378, P=0.045; effective rates: 89.5% vs 78.1%, U=4.163, P=0.041). The adverse effect rates of the group A (vesicle 20.0%, pigmentation 46.9%, scarring 17.7%) were lower than those of the group B (vesicle 21.9%, pigmentation 60.4%, scarring 25.0%). Incidences of pigmentation and scarring were statistically significantly different (U=3.884, P=0.034, and U=4.016, P=0.032 respectively) between the two groups.Conclusion With the guidance of color Doppler ultrasound, the efficacy and safety of long pulse 1064 nmNd:YAG laser, intense pulsed light, and lauromacrogol injection in the treatment of infantile hemangioma have better outcomes compared to laser treatment alone without preoperative ultrasound examination.
Female ; Hemangioma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; methods

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasonography in combination with mammography for breast cancer within 2 cm.

METHODSThe PubMed, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM and Wanfang databases (2003/01/01-2013/04/30) were searched for studies of the diagnostic value of ultrasonography in combination with mammography for breast cancer within 2 cm. The quality of the included studies was evaluated according to QUADAS items. The pooled sensitivity (SEN), pooled specificity (SPE), pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and area under summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated using Review Manager 5.2 and Meta-DiSc 1.4 software.

RESULTSNine articles were included in the final analysis. The pooled SEN of ultrasonography, mammography and their combination were 0.75, 0.66, and 0.92, the pooled SPE 0.75, 0.83, and 0.82, the pooled DOR 7.11, 8.67, and 60.82, and the AUC 0.7902, 0.8120, and 0.9469, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe combination of ultrasonography and mammography can increase the diagnostic accuracy for breast cancer within 2 cm.

Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Female ; Humans ; Mammography ; instrumentation ; methods ; Molybdenum ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed ; Ultrasonography, Mammary ; methods

OBJECTIVETo explore the ultrasound characteristics of intramural pregnancy and evaluate its diagnostic value.

METHODSIntramural pregnancy was diagnosed by endoluminal ultrasonography and confirmed by surgery and pathological examination in 6 patients. The position of the gestational sac, ultrasound findings, distribution of color Doppler flow signals were observed and analyzed together with their surgical and pathological results based on literature review.

RESULTSThere were three types of ultrasound characteristics: gestational cyst type, mass type and uterine rupture type. The gestational cyst type or mass type presented with an empty uterus and a gestational sac or mixed mass was found in the myometrium, which can be separated from the endometrium. The sac or mass did not communicate with the uterine cavity, and abundant blood flow was observed about the sac or in the mass, while massive hemoperitoneum was found in the uterine rupture type.

CONCLUSIONEndoluminal ultrasound is of high value in the diagnosis of intramural pregnancy.

Adult ; Endosonography ; Female ; Humans ; Myometrium ; diagnostic imaging ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal ; methods

In order to test the performance of wall filters, we propose a method for simulation of Hybrid Doppler testing signal, which adopts a rectangular power spectrum. In the method, the parameters of clutter, blood flow and system noise can be adjusted with flexibility. The problem about choosing model parameters is discussed as an emphasis. Several reasonable and typical parameter combination patterns are presented. Furthermore, an example is given to explain the process of choosing the parameters and testing the wall filter performance.
Blood Flow Velocity ; physiology ; Computer Simulation ; Humans ; Rheology ; instrumentation ; methods ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; instrumentation ; methods

In color flow imaging systems, the ultrasound Doppler signal scattered from blood is heavily corrupted by the strong clutter signal reflected from the slow-moving muscular tissue. Moving target indicator (MTI) is a key technique of rejecting the clutter signal and detecting blood flow. To improve the performance of detecting blood flow, a new MTI scheme is proposed in this paper. It consists of a pre-filter, a clutter weak-rejector and a 2-order AR estimator. After the processing of pre-filtering and clutter weak-rejection, the strong clutter signal is effectively eliminated and its strength is comparable with blood flow. Under such condition, the optimal performance can be attained by the 2-order AR estimator. It is illustrated in the simulation that, compared with the data from traditional methods, the blood flow parameters are estimated with smaller deviation and the lower speed flow is detected.
Blood Flow Velocity ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted ; instrumentation ; methods ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; instrumentation ; methods

PURPOSE: The improvement of testicular volume, testosterone levels and sperm concentration was suggested to be significantly associated with the number of internal spermatic veins (ISVs) ligated during varicocelectomy. Herein, we investigated preoperative color Doppler ultrasonography (CDU) findings as potential preoperative predictors of the number of ISVs requiring ligation during microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective evaluation of 40 patients, maximal vein size and maximal reflux velocity were measured, while the total cross-sectional area of the affected testicular veins during a Valsalva maneuver was calculated using CDU by a single uroradiologist. Microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomies were performed by one urologist. RESULTS: Among the semen parameters, semen morphology showed significant improvement (p=0.033), which was much clearer in the patients with a higher number of ISVs ligated than a lower number of ISVs ligated. Among the various preoperative variables, maximal reflux velocity and total cross-sectional area on CDU were related to the number of ISVs ligated (r=-0.442, p=0.004; r=0.594, p=0.000, respectively). Furthermore, univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses showed that maximal reflux velocity and total cross-sectional area on CDU were independent predictive factors of the number of ISVs ligated. CONCLUSION: Maximal reflux velocity and total cross-sectional area on CDU were related to the number of ISVs ligated. This means that the maximal reflux velocity and total cross-sectional area measured by preoperative CDU can predict the number of ISVs requiring ligation during microsurgical subinguinal varicocelectomy, which might be related to significant improvement of semen parameters after varicocelectomy.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Semen/metabolism ; Testicular Diseases/ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color/*methods ; Varicocele/pathology/*ultrasonography ; Veins/*ultrasonography ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDSome individuals have multiple renal arteries. Severe stenosis in one of the arteries may cause refractory hypertension. The detection of stenosis within one of the multiple renal arteries usually required invasive procedures, such as computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). This study reported the application of color Doppler sonography (CDS) in the detection of severe stenosis in one of the multiple arteries.

METHODSPatients with multiple renal arteries and one of the arteries with severe stenosis were retrospectively studied. Peak systolic velocities (PSV) of renal arteries and the intrarenal CDS patterns were collected and compared. The diagnosis was confirmed by digital subtraction angiography (DSA).

RESULTSFour children with multiple renal arteries and one of the arteries with stenosis were investigated. They were admitted due to refractory hypertension. CDS screening identified two renal arteries in one kidney of each patient with one of the two renal arteries having stenosis > 70%. The PSV of the stenosed arteries were much higher, and the intrarenal CDS patterns supplied by the stenosed arteries changed into T-P patterns.

CONCLUSIONNon-invasive CDS technology may be a useful method to identify severe stenosis in one of multiple renal arteries in young patients.

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Renal Artery ; abnormalities ; Renal Artery Obstruction ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color ; methods