[SieScape panorama imaging in radiologic diagnosis]

Through high-performance computer processing it has become possible to realize a new ultrasound imaging process: SieScape imaging. This method provides extended field of view images in real time using successive ultrasound images obtained when a standard transducer is scanned over a distance of up to 60 cm without any position sensor. SieScape offers new possibilities to view topographical anatomy. It is especially advantageous for scanning extended and tubular structures as well as large and enlarged organs and big pathologic volumes. Parallel scanning sequences allow documentation comparable to that of computed tomography. In addition, just as in magnetic resonance, variable imaging planes can be realized. The following describes the results obtained with SieScape in a multitude of clinical applications, especially in examinations of throat, thoracic and abdominal walls, breast, and intraabdominal organs as well as the soft tissues and small vessels of the extremities. The experience gathered with SieScape imaging--its advantages as well as its potential limitations, such as the formation of artefacts--is described.