Educational benefits of fusing magnetic resonance imaging with sonograms

• Published in: Journal of clinical ultrasound Vol. 42; no. 5; pp. 257 - 263
• Main Authors: Vollman, Andrew, Hulen, Rachel, Dulchavsky, Scott, Pinchcofsky, Howard, Amponsah, David, Jacobsen, Gordon, Dulchavsky, Alexandria, van Holsbeeck, Marnix
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Clinical Competence - statistics & numerical data; education; Educational Measurement - methods; Educational Measurement - statistics & numerical data; fusion ultrasound; Humans; Internship and Residency - methods; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; MRI; Multimodal Imaging - methods; musculoskeletal sonography; Musculoskeletal System - anatomy & histology; Musculoskeletal System - diagnostic imaging; Radiology - education; sonography; Statistics, Nonparametric; Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography - methods; United States; education; musculoskeletal sonography; MRI; fusion ultrasound; sonography
• ISSN: 0091-2751; 1097-0096; 1097-0096
• DOI: 10.1002/jcu.22136

ABSTRACT Purpose To investigate whether providing sonographic (US)/MRI fusion images will enhance the ability of medical students and radiology residents to identify MSK anatomy on sonograms alone. Methods Medical students (n = 31) and radiology residents (n = 23) were each randomly divided into two groups: Group A and Group B. Subjects in Group A were shown 10 MSK sonograms with arrows pointing to a specific anatomic structure or anatomic region. Subjects in Group B were shown the exact same 10 annotated sonograms as Group A as well as an additional fusion image consisting of an MRI of the same anatomy in the same plane fused with the sonogram without arrows. Sonograms and MRI were obtained from adult patients who consented to have their images used. The anatomic regions included the shoulder, hip, and pelvis. Both groups were given the same 10‐question multiple choice examination to identify the anatomic structure that the arrow was marking on the sonogram. The transducer's location was given for every question. One minute was allowed to answer each question. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to assess if there was a difference between Group A and Group B in both the medical student and the radiology resident cohorts. Results Medical students: subjects in Group A (n = 16) gave the correct answers in 33.8% of the cases (54/160). Subjects in Group B (n = 15) gave correct answers in 26.0% of the cases (39/150) (p value <0.110). Radiology residents: subjects in Group A (n = 11) gave correct answers in 40.9% of the cases (45/110). Subjects in Group B (n = 12) gave correct answers in 72.5% of the cases (87/120) (p value <0.001). Conclusion The addition of a fusion MRI/US image enhances radiology residents' ability to identify MSK US anatomy accurately compared with the sonogram alone. The medical students, however, did not show improvement with the addition of the fusion MRI/sonogram. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 42:257–263, 2014