Ultrasound reflections fail to reflect the histopathology of the prostate

Abstract

High-resolution profiles of the reflections of a broad-band 4 MHz ultrasound pulse from radical prostatectomy and autopsy specimens in vitro have been captured and analyzed. An attempt was made to correlate the histopathology of each prostate reflection site with the profile of the pulse reflected from that site. Reflections from 125 sites on 22 prostate specimens were studied. Although the reflected pulse from each site displayed a distinctive profile, we could find no obvious correlation between the shape of that profile and the histologic findings at that site.