[Possibilities of 3-dimensional ultrasound imaging]

This is a report on the clinical use of sonographic imaging. Experimental studies have shown that parallel sonographic sections are available only in vitro, which means no in-vivo three-dimensional reconstruction is possible as it is with magnetic resonance and computed tomography. The idea that a coordinated sequence of sections can be obtained by spatial rotation of the plane of sound so that the individual sections differ from one another by defined angular distances, enables three-dimensional reconstruction of sonographic in-vivo sections. A transducer was constructed that enables the production of sonographic sections rotating around a fixed center of rotation. Its clinical usefulness was tried and confirmed in the imaging of early pregnancies, benign and malignant carcinomas of the breast, and in imaging a gallbladder with a solitary gallstone. Three-dimensional imaging can be achieved either as a ring-shaped structure or with a continuous surface. This points to the possibility of diagnosing malformations early in pregnancy if the number of sections is sufficiently high. In tumour imaging the malignant tumour seems to be clearly distinguishable from the benign one; three-dimensional diagnosis is likely to furnish important additional criteria in diagnosis. Further clinical studies will have to verify this.