Gray scale ultrasound signs of gallbladder stones: clinical and experimental study

200 patients with radiologically detected gallbladder stones were examined with gray scale ultrasound. Nine different ultrasound signs caused by the stones were found. A physical and chemical analysis of the gallstones of 33 patients from different image groups was performed. Viscosity of the bile and the thickness of the gallbladder wall were measured. Phantom experiments were performed and four different ultrasound signs were found but there was no significant correlation between these and the physicochemical properties of the gallstones.