Understanding strain elastography – How blue is green? Accuracy of strain histograms, strain ratios, and visual scoring in a phantom NB for EFSUMB young investigator 2013

Purpose: Strain elastography (SE) is a qualitative ultrasound method that estimates tissue strain. In order to improve diagnostic accuracy of SE, methods of semi-quantification have been proposed. We evaluated two of these methods, strain histograms (SH), and strain ratios (SR), and qualitative visual scoring (VS) in an elasticity phantom. Materials and methods: Two observers examined targets of four known elasticities in an elasticity phantom with two different elastography pre-settings. Two other observers performed all visual scorings. One was experienced with the elastography technique; the other was not. Cu…