Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of Cervical Microstructure
Quantitative Ultrasound Assessment of Cervical Microstructure
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DOI：
10.1177/016173461003200302
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发表时间：
2010-07-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Hall, Timothy J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Feltovich, Helen;Nam, Kibo;Hall, Timothy J.
这项初步研究的目的是确定定量超声（QUS）是否能够深入了解子宫颈微观结构并对其进行表征。在整个孕期，随着子宫颈为分娩做准备而发生变化，宫颈胶原蛋白会重新组织（从排列整齐且各向异性变为杂乱无章且各向同性）。在哺乳动物中，胶原蛋白的过早变化与早产有关。由于QUS能够检测结构，我们假设它可能提供一种无创评估宫颈微观结构的方法。对宫颈微观结构的深入研究因缺乏检测胶原蛋白组织微小变化的技术而受到限制，这反过来又限制了我们检测可能导致早产的胶原蛋白异常和/或过早变化的能力。为了确定QUS是否可用于检测宫颈微观结构，我们从人类子宫切除标本（n = 10）的子宫颈获取了射频（rf）回波数据。通过将发射/接收角度控制在从 -20度到 +20度，利用声束与组织之间的角度来评估各向异性声传播。计算感兴趣区域内回波信号的功率谱，以研究组织的微观结构。对具有球形散射体的均匀体模进行了相同的分析，以进行系统校准。对于正常（0度）波束，子宫颈后向散射射频的功率谱比转向（±20度）波束高6 dB。转向波束的频谱功率单调下降（在 +5度时为0.4 dB，在 +20度时为3.6 dB）。正常入射（0度）波束与转向波束相比的额外差异（与体模的类似分析相比）与宫颈微观结构中排列整齐的成分的散射相符。因此，QUS似乎能够可靠地识别宫颈微观结构中排列整齐的成分；由于胶原蛋白在子宫颈中普遍且大量存在，它是最有可能的候选成分。检测宫颈胶原蛋白和微观结构的变化可能提供有关正常与异常宫颈变化的信息，从而指导针对早产的更早、更具针对性的干预措施的开发。
The objective of this preliminary study was to determine whether quantitative ultrasound (QUS) can provide insight into, and characterization of, uterine cervical microstructure. Throughout pregnancy. cervical collagen reorganizes (from aligned and anisotropic to disorganized and isotropic) as the cervix changes in preparation for delivery. Premature changes in collagen are associated with premature birth in mammals. Because QUS is able to detect structural an we hypothesized that it may provide a means of noninvasively assessing cervical microstructure. Thorough study of cervical microstructure has been limited by lack of technology to detect small changes in collagen organization, which has in turn limited our ability to detect abnormal and/or premature changes in collagen that may lead to preterm birth. In order to determine whether QUS may be useful for detection of cervical microstructure, radiolrequency (rf) echo data were acquired from the cervices of human hysterectomy specimens (n = 10). The angle between the acoustic beam and tissue was used to assess anisotropic acoustic propagation by control of transmit/receive angles from 20 degrees to +20 degrees. The power spectrum of the echo signals from within a region of interest was computed in order to investigate the microstructure of the tissue. An identical analysis was performed on a homogeneous phantom with spherical scatterers for system calibration. Power spectra of backscattered rf from the cervix were 6 dB higher for normal (0 degrees) than steered (+/- 20 degrees) beams. The spectral power for steered beams decreased monotonically (0.4 dB at +5 degrees to 3.6 dB at +20 degrees). The excess difference (compared to similar analysis for the phantom) in normally-incident (0 degrees) versus steered beams is consistent with scattering from an aligned component of the cervical microstructure. Therefore, QUS appears to reliably identify an aligned component of cervical microstructure; because collagen is ubiquitously and abundantly present in the cervix, this is the most likely candidate. Detection of changes in cervical collagen and microstructure may provide information about normal versus abnormal cervical change and thus guide development of earlier, more specific interventions for preterm birth.