Applications of Technical Fusion in Uroradiology Einsatzmöglichkeiten der technischen Fusion in der Uroradiologie

Currently the radiologist’s clinical practice is generally structured as follows: if a lesion previously detected via computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and is also monitored using ultrasound (US) should be reevaluated or biopsied, the examiner first examines the static CT or MRI data records on an imaging console in order to get a solid impression of the morphology and localization of the lesion. In the subsequent ultrasound examination, information is recalled from memory in order to find the lesion and characterize it, for example. This approach is called visual or cognitive fusion (CF). In contrast, technical fusion (TF) allows not only the simultaneous display of real-time ultrasound images with the previously obtained CT or MRI data records on the same screen, that is, on the split-screen ultrasound monitor, but also supports the synchronous movement of the real-time ultrasound image together with the recorded 3D data records using coregistration. In the recent past, the following advantages, among other things, have been ascribed to TF: Discovery of lesions that could not be detected, or were difficult to detect using ultrasound [1]; More reliable, non-examiner-dependent size tracking of various lesions [2]; Targeted biopsies of the prostate or breast [3], which then could be performed in private practice for example, by urologists themselves as a first-line invasive diagnostic procedure. This overview article will describe the technology of TF, discuss established uses of fusion imaging in uroradiology, such as prostate Abstract !