Jinpu Campus – Ultrasound Department

The Department of Ultrasound of the Jinpu Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University is a comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic department integrating medical care, teaching, and research.

Strong technical capabilities:

1. It has a united and progressive medical team dedicated wholeheartedly to serving patients. There are currently 10 physicians, including 2 chief physicians, 1 associate chief physician, and 7 attending physicians; among them, 1 holds a doctoral degree, 2 are currently pursuing doctoral degrees, and 6 hold master's degrees.

2. It possesses various domestically and internationally advanced ultrasound diagnostic systems, including the Philips high-end color Doppler ultrasound system IU-Elite, Philips EPIQ7, Italy's Esaote Mylab twice, America's General Electric (GE), Japan's HITACHI, and others.

New diagnostic and therapeutic technologies are being actively developed, all of which have reached or are close to the level of advanced hospitals in China.

Ultrasound has won the favor of patients and physicians because it is noninvasive, involves no radiation, is convenient to perform, has strong repeatability, provides rapid conclusions, and produces reliable results. With the adoption and continuous refinement of new ultrasound technologies, ultrasound has continued to integrate and develop with clinical departments, playing a major role in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and occupying an increasingly important position in the healthcare service system. Therefore, we have also developed new technologies with our own distinctive characteristics.

Ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation for solid tumors throughout the body.

Under ultrasound monitoring, a radiofrequency needle is inserted percutaneously directly into the tumor, raising the temperature within the tumor to 50–100°C within a short period of time and thereby inactivating tumor cells. Its advantages include minimal trauma, rapid recovery, strong repeatability, ease of acceptance by patients, comparable efficacy, significant improvement in the quality of life of tumor patients, and prolonged survival. It is mainly used for: (1) primary liver cancer and metastatic liver cancer; (2) benign tumors of the thyroid and breast; (3) lymph node metastases from malignant tumors; and (4) uterine fibroids and adenomyosis. More than 1,000 patients have been treated to date, with very good therapeutic outcomes achieved in all cases.

Ultrasound-guided treatment of hepatic and renal cysts and liver abscesses; ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of the prostate and other tissues throughout the body; and treatment procedures such as cholecystostomy, drainage for hydronephrosis, thoracic drainage, and pericardial drainage. Approximately 1,000 patients are diagnosed and treated each year.

Ultrasound-guided musculoskeletal interventional treatment

It is mainly used for ultrasound-guided nerve blocks in painful areas; injection and release for stenosing tenosynovitis; injection and release for frozen shoulder; injection and aspiration for calcific tendinitis; aspiration treatment for tendon sheath ganglion cysts; aspiration and injection treatment for bursitis; aspiration and injection treatment for joint effusions; and other procedures.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination

Microbubble contrast agents are injected through a peripheral vein to improve the sensitivity of visualizing low-velocity blood flow in human tissues and small blood vessels, providing richer and more definitive diagnostic information than color Doppler ultrasound. It is mainly used for: patients with impaired liver or kidney function or allergies to CT or MRI contrast agents; the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant space-occupying lesions in various organs throughout the body, particularly the liver; evaluation of the efficacy of antiangiogenic targeted therapy drugs; assessment of the characteristics and stability of carotid artery plaques; and evaluation and follow-up observation after interventional tumor treatment, including embolization and radiofrequency ablation.

Ultrasound elastography

It is mainly used for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions and the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid lesions.

New technologies in cardiac ultrasound diagnosis

In addition to transthoracic echocardiography, transesophageal echocardiography, and emergency bedside echocardiography, the department routinely conducts the diagnosis and research of new technologies such as stress echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging, intracardiac contrast echocardiography, full-volume three-dimensional echocardiography, and two-dimensional speckle-tracking technology. These technologies are mainly used to assess cardiac function and treatment outcomes.

Gastrointestinal contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination

Gastrointestinal contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination involves filling the gastrointestinal lumen with a contrast agent to reduce interference with ultrasound waves from gas and contents within the gastrointestinal lumen, thereby enabling clearer visualization of the structure of the gastrointestinal wall and its lesions. It can be used to diagnose common diseases such as gastrointestinal ulcers and tumors, and has the advantages of being noninvasive, painless, simple and easy to perform, and highly repeatable.

It was the first department in the city to perform color Doppler ultrasound diagnosis of diseases of the interphalangeal joints and metacarpophalangeal small joints of the hand.

Early diagnosis and differential diagnosis can be made for patients with rheumatic and rheumatoid diseases.

The entire department is actively engaged in teaching and research to improve its theoretical standards.

More than 10 graduate students and visiting trainees are trained each year. The department leads or participates in more than 10 national-, provincial-, and municipal-level research projects, has published more than 40 papers in foreign-language and Chinese-language journals, has received the Second Prize of the Liaoning Provincial Science and Technology Award multiple times, has served as chief editor of several medical monographs, and has participated in compiling multiple books published by People's Medical Publishing House and other publishers.