Which statement about the diagnostic ultrasound protocol is true?

Which statement about the diagnostic ultrasound protocol is true?

• A. It may include elastography and fremitus
• B. It excludes any Doppler technique
• C. It uses only gray-scale imaging
• D. It ignores color imaging

Answer: (A)

A breast ultrasound protocol is typically multimodal, using more than just gray-scale images to characterize lesions. Elastography adds information about tissue stiffness, which helps distinguish benign from malignant features since cancers tend to be stiffer than normal tissue. Fremitus refers to a vibro-acoustic or mechanical response assessment; when available, it can be used to further probe tissue properties and improve lesion characterization. Because of these roles, including elastography and fremitus fits with a comprehensive ultrasound protocol. Doppler techniques, including color Doppler, are commonly employed to evaluate vascularity within or around a lesion, so they are not excluded. Relying only on gray-scale imaging would miss important vascular and mechanical information, and ignoring color imaging would limit the assessment already provided by Doppler.

A breast ultrasound protocol is typically multimodal, using more than just gray-scale images to characterize lesions. Elastography adds information about tissue stiffness, which helps distinguish benign from malignant features since cancers tend to be stiffer than normal tissue. Fremitus refers to a vibro-acoustic or mechanical response assessment; when available, it can be used to further probe tissue properties and improve lesion characterization. Because of these roles, including elastography and fremitus fits with a comprehensive ultrasound protocol.

Doppler techniques, including color Doppler, are commonly employed to evaluate vascularity within or around a lesion, so they are not excluded. Relying only on gray-scale imaging would miss important vascular and mechanical information, and ignoring color imaging would limit the assessment already provided by Doppler.