Aims: Thyroid volume has to be measured in goiters prior to radioiodine treatment to calculate the needed amount of radioactivity. Modern clinical equipment for ultrasonography shows the trend to smaller probes, so that larger goiters do not fit any longer into the probe’s field of view. This study evaluated the feasibility and accuracy of stitching procedures applied to thyroid volumetric analysis performed using three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US).Material and methods: Ad hoc thyroid phantoms of different shapes (regular, nodular, thickened isthmus) and volumes (ranging between 50 and 400 mL) were developed. In 15 such phantoms the left and right lobes were separately scanned, and the 3D-US datasets were then assembled (stitched) using predefined landmarks and dedicated software. Volumetric analysis was then assessed via a conventional ellipsoid model (em) and manual tracing (mt). The correlation of measured and reference volumes was determined using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and Bland and Altman limits of agreement.Results: The results showed a high level of agreement (with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.974 to 0.999) for all shapes and volumes tested, including the largest volume of 400 mL. The mt method, although more time consuming, proved superior to the em.Conclusions: Stitching-mediated thyroid volumetric analysis is accurate, and its clinical performance should be investigated in future studies

Aims: To investigate the feasibility and accuracy of 3D-US extended field of view volumetric analyses acquired with mechanically-swept ultrasound probes with different measurement methods for large volume thyroid phantoms.Materials and methods: Fifteen thyroid phantoms with different shapes (regular, nodular, thickened isthmus) and volumes (50-400 mL) were created. Two different mechanically-swept US probes were used for the separate scanning of the left and right lobes: convex and linear probe. After specific modifications, the 3D-US datasets were stitched together to an extended field of view using predefined landmarks. Volumetric analyses were performed by conventional ellipsoid model and manual tracing methods. The correspondence of measured and reference volumes was calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficients and limits of agreement according to Bland and Altman.Results: The C-probe proved feasible for the acquisition and processing of the three-dimensional ultrasound extended field of view images; very high levels of agreement (correlation coefficients for volume analyses: 0.9843-0.9992) were observed for all shapes and volumes investigated. The manual tracing method showed superior results in comparison to the ellipsoid model, but was more time consuming. The linear probe was only applicable for the 50 mL phantoms due to its limited field of view.Conclusions: The investigated mechanically-swept convex probe was suitable for the three-dimensional ultrasound extended field of view stitching of large volume thyroid phantoms. Accurate volume analyses could be carried out. The mechanically-swept linear probe is limited to a maximum of 50 m

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