Evaluation of a breast biopsy phantom for learning freehand ultrasound-guided biopsy of the liver.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated whether a breast biopsy phantom device would aid in the development of skills in freehand ultrasound liver biopsy.


METHODS
Three radiologists who were inexperienced in freehand biopsy of the liver were observed. Each radiologist was timed and scored during attempts to biopsy lesions created in a beef liver. The time required for biopsy and the success of each pass was recorded. A commercially available breast biopsy phantom was then used by each of these radiologists during two 20-min practice sessions. Posttraining testing on the beef liver was performed in the same manner as pretraining testing.


RESULTS
Freehand biopsy practice using the breast biopsy phantom resulted in a reduction in the mean time required for biopsy from 32 to 17 sec. Each of the three subjects reduced the mean time required for successful biopsy after training using the breast biopsy phantom. The total number of lesions missed was reduced from 14 of 43 to 0 of 45.


CONCLUSIONS
Practice using the ultrasound breast biopsy phantom improves performance in freehand ultrasound biopsy of the liver.
Nicotra
J J
JJ
Department of Radiology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
Gay
S B
SB
Wallace
K K
KK
McNulty
B C
BC
Dameron
R D
RD
D000818:Animals; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D002417:Cattle; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography