Ultrasound Diagnostics

The Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Affiliated with Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, is a specialized discipline integrating examination services for the abdomen, heart, gynecology, blood vessels, small organs, and others. In teaching, it undertakes theoretical instruction and clinical internship supervision in ultrasound medicine for students of the Medical, Acupuncture and Tuina, and Rehabilitation Departments of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and has collaborated on numerous research projects with the hospital’s specialized disciplines, such as Gynecology, Tuina, and Hematology. It currently has ultrasound examination rooms at the Dabaishu main campus, the Qinghai Road outpatient clinic, and the physical examination center. The department has 10 physicians, including 1 chief physician and 3 associate chief physicians. The vast majority of the department’s physicians have comprehensive technical skills and are proficient in ultrasound examinations of the abdomen, heart, gynecology, blood vessels, and small organs, enabling them to provide patients with high-quality services. The department’s workload has increased year by year. In 2013, 124,000 patient visits were examined, including 55,000 abdominal examinations, 23,700 color Doppler examinations of small organs, 22,700 transvaginal ultrasounds, 18,000 vascular ultrasounds, 9,500 cardiac color Doppler examinations, more than 700 anal fistula examinations, and more than 900 ultrasound-guided punctures and treatments of various types. With the rapid development of related clinical disciplines, the department has accumulated extensive experience in examining blood vessels, small organs, anal fistulas, and others. The department is equipped with 8 color Doppler ultrasound machines, including 3 Philips color Doppler ultrasound machines, 3 GE color Doppler ultrasound machines, 1 Siemens color Doppler ultrasound machine, and 1 Toshiba color Doppler ultrasound machine. Among them, the Siemens sequoia 512, GE-logic-E9, and other internationally leading ultrasound medical imaging systems have contrast-enhanced ultrasound functionality.

Introduction to Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a technique of extremely high practical value and is already routinely performed abroad. The ultrasound contrast agent SonoVue has been used in China for nearly 10 years and is a highly safe contrast agent. This technique is applicable to patients in whom a mass is found on routine ultrasound and malignancy is suspected; tumor patients with clinical suspicion of metastasis; and tumor patients requiring preoperative and postoperative assessment in connection with planned interventional treatment. This technique not only improves the detection rate of malignant tumors but also spares many patients with benign tumors the ordeal of “going under the knife.”

The ultrasound contrast agent sonoVue consists of sulfur hexafluoride gas in microbubbles: an inert, low-solubility sulfur hexafluoride gas encapsulated in a phospholipid shell, supplied as a dry powder in a vial. Its diameter is far smaller than that of red blood cells, so contrast agent appears wherever red blood cells are present; it is a true blood-pool scan. Fifteen minutes after injection, all the sulfur hexafluoride gas is exhaled through respiration. Normally, areas with blood flow display in color, but when the flow velocity is very low or the mass is located very deeply, a color blood-flow signal may not necessarily be displayed even when blood flow is present. By enhancing the Doppler signals of tiny blood vessels within tumor lesions through contrast-enhanced ultrasound, the vascular morphology, distribution, and blood supply of tumors can be displayed more completely; detection of tumor vessels by color Doppler ultrasound can be effectively improved; tumor vascularity can be evaluated more accurately; and more information can be provided for differentiating benign from malignant tumors.