Evaluation of quantitative contrast harmonic imaging to assess malignancy of liver tumors: A prospective controlled two-center study

Figure 1 Gray value progression of the five ROIs over 10 s. A: For a patient with liver metastasis in the arterial phase; B: For the same patient in the portal-venous phase; C: For the same patient in the late venous phase. (red, gray-value progression in the tumor; green, gray-value progression in the surrounding healthy tissue).

Figure 2 Sensitivity of the diagnostic test in relation to the number of patients examined. The sensitivity over the course of the study provides a sensitive indicator to the diagnostic value of this method in identifying malignant liver tumors in 100 patients.

Figure 3 ROC diagram showing the specificity and sensitivity in the late venous phase for different limiting values (varying the cut-off values from +5 to -5). A greater distance from the diagonal line indicates that a diagnostic test had a higher reliability. The black point in the ROC diagram corresponds to the best sensitivity and specificity.

Figure 4 Distribution of the characteristic gray-value differences in the late venous phase for patients with benign (black) or malignant (red) hepatic tumor.

Figure 5 True agent detection mode of CHI with TIC analysis. A: Malignant lesion in the arterial phase. Arterial enhancement of the tumor margin - metastasis of beast cancer; B: Malignant lesion in the portal-venous phase. Lower enhancement of the tumor - metastasis of beast cancer; C: Malignant lesion in the late venous phase (> 100 s). Lower enhancement of the tumor - metastasis of beast cancer; D: Benign lesion in the arterial phase. Lower enhancement of the tumor-adenoma histological confirmed in the early arterial phase; E: Benign lesion in the portal-venous phase. Enhancement of the tumor - adenoma histological confirmed-similar to normal liver tissue; F: Benign lesion in the late venous phase. Enhancement of the tumor-adenoma histological confirmed - similar to normal liver tissue.