Ultrasound characterization of the mastoid for detecting middle ear effusion: A preliminary clinical validation.
Ultrasound detection of middle ear effusion (MEE) is an emerging technique in otolaryngology. This study proposed using ultrasound characterization of the mastoid to noninvasively measure MEE-induced mastoid effusion (ME) as a new strategy for determining the presence of MEE. In total, 53 patients were enrolled (Group I: normal, n = 20; Group II: proven MEE through both otoscopy and tympanometry, n = 15; Group III: patients with MEE having effusions observed during grommet surgery, n = 18). A 2.25-MHz delay-line transducer was used to measure backscattered signals from the mastoid. The Nakagami parameter was estimated using the acquired signals to model the echo amplitude distribution for quantifying changes in the acoustic structures of mastoid air cells. The median Nakagami parameter and interquartile range were 0.35 (0.34-0.37) for Group I, 0.39 (0.37-0.41) for Group II, and 0.43 (0.39-0.51) for Group III. The echo amplitude distribution observed for patients with MEE was closer to Rayleigh distribution than that without MEE. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis further revealed that the area under the ROC was 0.88, sensitivity was 72.73%, specificity was 95%, and accuracy was 81.13%. The proposed method has considerable potential for noninvasive and comfortable evaluation of MEE.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Chin-Kuo
CK
Chen
Ph.D. Program in Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Jui
J
Fang
Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Medical Imaging Research Center, Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Yung-Liang
YL
Wan
Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Medical Imaging Research Center, Institute for Radiological Research, Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.|Department of Medical Imaging and Intervention, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Po-Hsiang
PH
Tsui
D019540:Area Under Curve; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008416:Mastoid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*