Inter-transducer variability of ultrasound image quality in obese adults: Qualitative and quantitative comparisons

Acquiring high-quality ultrasound images of deep abdominal organs and vasculatures in obese adults (BMI30 kg/cmFour curvilinear transducers on three ultrasound scanners were used to acquire B-mode and color Doppler images of deep abdominal structures in 15 obesity ≥ class II (BMI35 kg/cmDifferences in visual-qualitative score, mean pixel value of B-mode images, and color area ratio of color Doppler images among the four transducers were significant (p 0.001). Transducer -4 produced the highest quality of B-mode (45-53% improvement) and color Doppler (22-73% improvement) images among the transducers. Intra-observer repeatability and inter-observer reproducibility were higher with performing offline image processing than visual-qualitative assessment (ICC: 0.97-0.99 versus ICC: 0.76-0.97).There was significant image quality variability between different transducers. Transducer -4, a transducer designed specifically for high BMI patients, had the highest quality B-mode and color Doppler images compared to the other transducers lending to improved ultrasonographic visualization in obese patients.