title: A new method of measuring the stiffness of corpus cavernosum penis with ShearWave™ Elastography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the feasibility of measuring the stiffness of corpus cavernosum penis (CCP) with ShearWave™ Elastography (SWE; SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France).
  
  
  METHODS
  40 healthy volunteers with ages ranging from 19 to 81 years (mean, 36 years; standard deviation, 17 years) were selected in this study. The ultrafast ultrasound device Aixplorer(®) (SuperSonic Imagine) was used for the research and the probe selected was SuperLinear™ SL15-4 (SuperSonic Imagine). The shear wave stiffness (SWS) of CCP was measured using SWE images. The measurement indexes of SWS included (1) SWS of CCP measured in the transverse section (SWS-T), (2) SWS of CCP measured in the longitudinal section (SWS-L) and (3) mean of SWS-T and SWS-L (SWS-M). The interval between hormone test and SWE examination of each subject was less than 7 days. The paired t-test was used to analyse the differences between SWS-T and SWS-L. The Pearson correlation was used to analyse the correlation of SWS of CCP with age as well as with sex hormone levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant difference between SWS-T and SWS-L (p > 0.05). SWS (SWS-T, SWS-L, SWS-M) was negatively correlated with age and oestradiol value, and SWS (SWS-T, SWS-L, SWS-M) was positively correlated with testosterone value.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SWE could serve as a new non-invasive method of evaluating the stiffness of CCP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is the first time that we have discussed the feasibility of measuring the stiffness of CCP with SWE and analysed the correlation of SWS of CCP with age as well as with sex hormone levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Shanghai First People's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: X-H
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: H-P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: L-F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010413:Penis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*