High-frequency ultrasound imaging to assess fetal pancreas: a promising application

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to establish a comprehensive reference range of quantitative characteristics of the fetal pancreas using a high-frequency transducer, and assess the growth and development of the fetal pancreas.

Methods: Pregnant women referred to a tertiary center were recruited to undergo a detailed fetal scan from 16 to 37 weeks. We evaluated the visualization rate of the fetal pancreas with high-frequency and low-frequency transducers and measured the head, neck, body, tail, circumference, area, and abdominal circumference(AC) of the fetal pancreas at different gestational ages(GA) with the high-frequency transducer. Regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between biological parameters and GA and AC.

Results: During the time periods of 16⁺¹∼21⁺⁶weeks and 22⁺¹∼27⁺⁶weeks, the visualization rate of high-frequency transducers was higher compared to low-frequency transducers (83.33% vs 45% and 95.65% vs 70%, respectively). However, in the third trimester of pregnancy, the performance of the two transducers was similar (70.37% vs 74.07% for 28⁺¹∼33⁺⁶weeks and 41.67% vs 53.85% for 34⁺¹∼37⁺⁶weeks). The head, neck, body, and tail as well as the circumference and area of the pancreas were significantly positively correlated with GA (R²＝0.87, 0.94, 0.92, 0.92,0.96, and 0.92) and AC (R²＝0.87, 0.93, 0.91, 0.93,0.96, and 0.92).

Conclusions: The high-frequency transducer was utilized to establish the normal reference, which can be used to evaluate normal pancreatic development and may help in the accurate diagnosis of fetal pancreatic abnormalities.

Keywords:

• Fetal pancreas
• high-frenquency transducer
• ultrasound imgaing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [G.W.T.], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.