Advantages of real-time spatial compound sonography of the musculoskeletal system versus conventional sonography

Spatial compound sonography is a method that obtains sonographic information from several different angles of insonation and combines them to produce a single image. By reducing speckle and improving definition of tissue planes, this method can potentially improve image quality in musculoskeletal sonography. The purpose of our study was to compare real-time spatial compound sonography with conventional high-resolution musculoskeletal sonography.

Thirty-four patients underwent sonography of the musculoskeletal system for a variety of indications. All patients were evaluated using conventional high-resolution sonography and real-time spatial compound sonography performed with a 12-5-MHz multifrequency linear array transducer. Conventional images and compound images depicting the same musculoskeletal structure were obtained in pairs. A total of 118 images (59 image pairs) were randomly assorted and reviewed on a computer monitor by three experienced sonologists working independently. The reviewers were unaware of the type of images they were evaluating. Image quality was rated using a 5-point scale. The image parameters evaluated were definition of tissue planes, speckle, other noise, and image detail.

Analysis of variance revealed that real-time spatial compound sonography significantly improved definition of soft-tissue planes, reduced speckle and other noise, and improved image detail when compared with conventional high-resolution sonography (p < 0.0001 for all evaluated parameters).

Real-time spatial compound sonography significantly improved sonographic image quality in the musculoskeletal system when compared with conventional high-resolution sonography. Because musculoskeletal sonography is highly dependent on image quality and tissue-plane definition, spatial compound sonography represents an important development.