Prostate elastography
Conventional B-mode transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) generates images of the acoustic properties of tissues (density and sound speed). TRUS is used extensively to aid in visualizing the prostate gland and needle during biopsy. However, TRUS has limited sensitivity and specificity for prostate cancer (PCa) detection/visualization [1, 2], and therefore advanced ultrasonic methods are currently being investigated to improve PCa detection. One promising approach, called elastography, generates images of the elastic properties of tissues (i.e., tissue stiffness), providing complementary information to B-mode images. This approach has promise for PCa imaging due to the inherent differences in stiffness between normal and pathologic tissues in the prostate.
