Diagnosis of Benign and Malignant Breast Nodules by Conventional Ultrasound in Combination with S-Detect Technology and Elastic Imaging.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic value of conventional ultrasound combined with S-Detect and elastic imaging technology in differentiating between benign and malignant breast nodules.

Study design: Observational study. Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Ultrasound Imaging, Yichang Central People's Hospital, Yichang, China, from October 2019 to October 2022.

Methodology: The study included all breast nodules diagnosed using ultrasound, with patients undergoing conventional ultrasound for BI-RADS classification, elasticity score, and S-Detect examination. Benign and malignant breast nodules were classified according to the three tests and their combinations. The diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under curve (AUV) of those alone and combinations were calculated and compared.

Results: Of the three methods, BI-RADS, elasticity score, and S-Detect, BI-RADS had the highest accuracy (89.29%), elasticity score had the highest specificity (96.20%), and S-Detect had the highest sensitivity (93.92%). The accuracy of combined groups were higher than that of the single group. When combined with elasticity score, the AUC of the new BI-RADS increased from 0.882 to 0.917 (p <0.001); and combined with S-Detect, the AUC of the new BI-RADS increased from 0.882 to 0.927 (p <0.001).

Conclusion: The combination of conventional ultrasound BI-RADS classification with elasticity score or S-Detect technology has a higher diagnostic efficacy for breast nodules, which can improve breast cancer detection and provide valuable diagnostic evidence for clinical practice.

Key words: S-Detect technology, Ultrasound elastic imaging, Elasticity scoring, Elasticity strain ratio value, Breast tumour.