Measurements of organ volume by ultrasonography

In a clinical context, measurements of organ volume are often performed in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with a variety of diseases. Ultraso nography is a cheap, widely available and non-hazardous imaging modality to use for estimation of volumes, and a range of two- and three-dimensional m ethods have emerged to accomplish this task. This paper reviews some of the ultrasound methods available in cardiology, gastroenterology, nephrology/u rology and gynaecology/obstetrics. Using two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound, t he simplest method of calculating the volume of an organ is based on the mu ltiplication of three diameters perpendicular to each other. These 2D metho ds are often based on geometrical assumptions which may introduce significa nt errors in volume estimation. Therefore, volume estimation based on three -dimensional (3D) ultrasound has been developed to increase accuracy and pr ecision. At present, the process of making 3D images based on ultrasonograp hy is divided into five steps: data acquisition, data digitization, data st orage, data processing and data display. In conclusion, ultrasonography is a useful and reliable tool to calculate volumes of organs. In particular, 3 D ultrasonography seems promising in this respect and appears to be superio r to 2D ultrasonography in accuracy and precision in volume measurements.