A Phantom-Based Assessment of Repeatability and Reproducibility of Transvaginal Quantitative Ultrasound

This article evaluated the repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) biomarkers attenuation coefficient (AC) and backscatter coefficient (BSC) in transvaginal QUS reference phantoms for obstetric applications. Five phantoms were scanned by three sonographers according to the scanning protocol. Each sonographer scanned each phantom with four transvaginal transducers of the same model (MC9-4) and three probe cover types (latex cover, nonlatex cover, and no cover). The AC and BSC were estimated by using a reference phantom method. The R&R analysis was performed for the frequency-averaged AC and logBSC (= 10log10BSC) (5.4-5.8 MHz) by using three-factor random effects Analysis of Variance with interaction. The total R&R variabilities for AC and logBSC are small (AC: 0.042-0.065 dB/cm-MHz; logBSC: 0.50-0.68 dB), indicating high measurement precision. These values are small compared to the ranges of AC (0.28-0.99 dB/cm-MHz) and logBSC (-33.16 to -20.35 dB) of the five phantoms. The AC and logBSC biomarkers measured on transvaginal QUS phantoms using the reference phantom method are repeatable, and reproducible between sonographers, transducers, and probe covers.