Thoracic ultrasound.

ABSTRACT

Ultrasound is an imaging technique based on the interaction of ultrasound with biological tissues, generated and received by a probe and processed by an ultrasound scanner into a two-dimensional image. Available ultrasound equipment is not designed to study lung paren-chyma, which due to its physical characteristics completely reflects the ultrasound, generating an artefactual picture. However, the presence of pathological conditions affecting the pleura and parenchyma unveils the organ, allowing an accurate study of superficial pathological changes and finding application in the pathology of the chest wall, pleura, lung parenchyma and in the study of diaphragmatic dynamics, adapting itself to multiple clinical contexts. Technological evolution and miniaturization have undoubtedly helped the method to spread widely, also helped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Artificial intelligence technologies are currently being studied to improve the diagnostic yield by supporting operators in interpreting pathological pictures, but the production of images of good quality remains a limit.Copyright © by Associazione Italiana Pneumologi Ospeda-lieri - Italian Thoracic Society (AIPO - ITS).