Fast diagnostic methods can control and prevent the spread of pandemic diseases like coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and assist physicians to better manage patients in high workload conditions. Although a laboratory test is the current routine diagnostic tool, it is time-consuming, imposing a high cost and requiring a wellequipped laboratory for analysis. Computed tomography (CT) has thus far become a fast method to diagnose patients with COVID-19. However, the performance of radiologists in diagnosis of COVID-19 was moderate. Accordingly, additional investigations are needed to improve the performance in diagnosing COVID-19. In this study is suggested a rapid and valid method for COVID-19 diagnosis using an artificial intelligence technique based. 1020 CT slices from 108 patients with laboratory proven COVID-19 (the COVID-19 group) and 86 patients with other atypical and viral pneumonia diseases (the non-COVID-19 group) were included. Ten well-known convolutional neural networks were used to distinguish infection of COVID-19 from non-COVID-19 groups:

This study was designed to evaluate ureterovesical jet dynamics in obstructed ureter and to compare it with those of contralateral unobstructed side. Forty-six patients with diagnosis of ureteral stone, based on imaging findings in computed tomography were enrolled in this study. The gray-scale ultrasound exam from both kidneys and urinary bladder was performed. Then, ureterovesical jet characteristics including ureteral jet frequency, duration and peak velocity were assessed by color Doppler and duplex Doppler studies in both obstructed and unobstructed ureters by a radiologist, 15-30 min after oral hydration with 750-1,000 mL of water. When compared with contralateral normal side, the ureterovesical jet in obstructed ureter showed less frequency (0.59 vs. 3.04 jets/min; P < 0.05), shorter duration (1.24 vs. 5.26 s; P < 0.05) and lower peak velocity (5.41 vs. 32.09 cm/s; P < 0.05). The cut-off points of 1.5 jets/min, 2.5 s and 19.5 cm/s for difference of ureteral jet frequency, duration and peak velocity between obstructed and contralateral normal ureters yielded sensitivities of 97.8, 95.6 and 100 % and specificities of 87, 87.9 and 97.8 %, respectively for diagnosis of ureteral obstruction. Given the safety of Doppler study and significant differences in flow dynamics of obstructed versus unobstructed ureters, our findings demonstrated the utility of Doppler ultrasound examination as a useful adjunct to gray-scale ultrasound by improving the accuracy of ultrasound exam in diagnosis of ureteral obstruction.

Background:In stable patients with blunt abdominal trauma, accurate diagnosis of visceral injuries is crucial.Objectives:To determine whether repeating ultrasound exam will increase the sensitivity of focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) through revealing additional free intraperitoneal fluid in patients with blunt abdominal trauma.Patients and Methods:We performed a prospective observational study by performing primary and secondary ultrasound exams in blunt abdominal trauma patients. All ultrasound exams were performed by four radiology residents who had the experience of more than 400 FAST exams. Five routine intraperitoneal spaces as well as the interloop space were examined by ultrasound in order to find free fluid. All patients who expired or were transferred to the operating room before the second exam were excluded from the study. All positive ultrasound results were compared with intra-operative and computed tomography (CT) findings and/or the clinical status of the patients.Results:Primary ultrasound was performed in 372 patients; 61 of them did not undergo secondary ultrasound exam; thus, were excluded from the study.Three hundred eleven patients underwent both primary and secondary ultrasound exams. One hundred and two of all patients were evaluated by contrast enhanced CT scan and 31 underwent laparotomy. The sensitivity of ultrasound exam in detecting intraperitoneal fluid significantly increased from 70.7% for the primary exam to 92.7% for the secondary exam. Examining the interloop space significantly improved the sensitivity of ultrasonography in both primary (from 36.6% to 70.7%) and secondary (from 65.9% to 92.7%) exams.Conclusions:Performing a secondary ultrasound exam in stable blunt abdominal trauma patients and adding interloop space scan to the routine FAST exam significantly increases the sensitivity of ultrasound in detecting intraperitoneal free fluid.

Our data indicate that a semiquantitative, simplified power Doppler US assessment is capable of localizing areas containing viable sperm with the potential to direct biopsies to specific sites and subsequent decrease in the number of required biopsies.