Applications of Sonographic Elastography to the Oral and Maxillofacial Region - Abstract
Sonographic elastography is a new technique for measurement of the tissue stiffness, and is currently under investigation for tissue characterization in several anatomic sites. This article introduces methodologies of sonographic elastography, and mentions the possibility of its application to oral and maxillofacial regions.
Sonographic elastography seems to be suboptimal for salivary gland malignancies, because there are many pathological types, and overlap between pleomorphic adenoma and malignant tumors. As to cervical lymph nodes, most studies have documented promising results of high accuracy for malignancy, although further larger studies are required to validate these findings. Therefore, sonographic elastography may become a useful ancillary technique in the routine diagnostic work-up for lymph nodes in the near future. For the masseter muscle, sonographic elastography has a possibility for exploring the causes of muscle pain, understanding the state of the muscle, selecting therapeutic methods, and evaluating therapeutic effect.