Comparision between the three-dimensional ultrasound VOCAL technique and two-dimensional ultrasonic in measurement of thyroid volume / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate and compare the consistency and repeatability of three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) technique and two-dimensional ultrasound (2D-US) in the measurement of thyroid volume.Methods The thyroid volume of 50 healthy female adults aged 18 to 68 years were measured by 2D-US and 3D-US.The 2D-US was used to measure the three diameter lines (L,H,W) of the largest thyroid section,and the thyroid volume was calculated by the classical ellipsoid formula V=0.523×L×H×W.The 3D-US VOCAL technique was used to acquire the thyroid three-dimensional data,and VOCAL software was used to measure the thyroid volume.The two methods of measurement were also compared and analyzed.Results The coefficient of variation in the intra-assay was 0.738％ and 1.59％ respectively for the 3D-US VOCAL technology and traditional 2D-US measurement of thyroid volume,and the 95％ limit of agreement in the intra-assay was (-0.26 cm3,0.22 cm3) and (-0.32 cm3,0.46 cm3).In addition,the correlation coefficient in the inter-assay were 0.970xx and 0.942xx,and the 95％ limit of agreement were (-0.36 cm3,0.37 cm3) and (-0.75 cm3,0.64 cm3).To compare the two methods of measuring thyroid volume,the 3D-US VOCAL had a lower variation coefficient in the intra-assay,a higher correlation coefficient in the inter-assay and a narrower 95％ limit of agreement,which showed that the repeatability of the 3D-US VOCAL technique measuring was better than the traditional 2D-US in measuring thyroid volume.Conclusions The 3D-US VOCAL technique shows a higher repeatability in measuring thyroid than traditional 2D-US.As a safe,simple and feasible precise measurement method,it provides a reliable and effective new method for clinical measurement of irregular organ volume.