Ultrasound imaging in thyroid nodule diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up: Current status and future trends

Ultrasound, the primary imaging modality in thyroid nodule management, suffers from drawbacks including: high inter- and intra-observer variability, limited field-of-view and limited functional imaging. Developments in ultrasound technologies are taking place to overcome these limitations, including three-dimensional-Doppler, -elastography, -nodule characteristics-extraction, and novel machine-learning algorithms. For thyroid ablative treatments and biopsies, perioperative use of three-dimensional ultrasound opens a new field of research. This review provides an overview of the current and future applications of ultrasound, and discusses the potential of new developments and trends that may improve the diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up of thyroid nodules.

Automated summary

Ultrasound, the primary imaging modality in thyroid nodule management, has limitations such as variability, limited field-of-view and functional imaging. However, current developments in ultrasound technologies, such as three-dimensional-Doppler, -elastography, -nodule characteristics-extraction, and machine-learning algorithms, are aimed at overcoming these limitations. The use of three-dimensional ultrasound in thyroid ablative treatments and biopsies is a promising area of research. This review provides an overview of the current and future applications of ultrasound in thyroid nodule management and discusses the potential of new developments and trends to improve diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up.