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History of Thyroid Ultrasound

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Thyroid Ultrasound and Ultrasound-Guided FNA

Abstract

The thyroid is well suited to ultrasound study because of its superficial location, vascularity, size, and echogenicity. In addition, the thyroid has a very high incidence of nodular disease, the vast majority benign. Most structural abnormalities of the thyroid need evaluation and monitoring, but not intervention. Thus, the thyroid was among the first organs to be well studied by ultrasound. Thyroid ultrasound has undergone a dramatic transformation from the cryptic deflections on an oscilloscope produced in A-mode scanning, to barely recognizable B-mode images, followed by initial low resolution gray scale, and now modern high resolution images. Recent advances in technology, including harmonic imaging, spatial compound imaging, contrast studies, and three-dimensional reconstruction, have furthered the field.

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Levine, R.A. (2013). History of Thyroid Ultrasound. In: Baskin, Sr., H., Duick, D., Levine, R. (eds) Thyroid Ultrasound and Ultrasound-Guided FNA. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4785-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4785-6_1

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