Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography of Benign and Malignant Thyroid Disorders: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating hybrid multispectral optoacoustic tomography/ultrasound for imaging of thyroid disorders, including Graves' disease and thyroid nodules. <b>Methods:</b> The functional biomarkers and tissue parameters deoxygenated hemoglobin, oxygenated hemoglobin, total hemoglobin, saturation of hemoglobin, fat content, and water content were analyzed in thyroid lobes affected by Graves' disease (<i>n</i> = 6), thyroid lobes with healthy tissue (<i>n</i> = 8), benign thyroid nodules (<i>n</i> = 13), and malignant thyroid nodules (<i>n</i> = 3). <b>Results:</b> In Graves' disease, significantly higher deoxygenated hemoglobin (3.18 ± 0.52 vs. 2.13 ± 0.62; <i>P</i> = 0.0055) and total hemoglobin (8.34 ± 0.88 vs. 6.59 ± 1.16; <i>P</i> = 0.0084) and significantly lower fat content (0.64 ± 0.37 vs. 1.69 ± 1.25; <i>P</i> = 0.0293) were found than in healthy controls. Malignant thyroid nodules showed significantly lower saturation of hemoglobin (55.4% ± 2.6% vs. 60.8% ± 7.2%; <i>P</i> = 0.0393) and lower fat content (0.62 ± 0.19 vs. 1.46 ± 0.87; <i>P</i> = 0.1295) than benign nodules. <b>Conclusion:</b> This pilot study showed the applicability and the potential of hybrid multispectral optoacoustic tomography/ultrasound to semiquantitatively provide tissue characterization and functional parameters in thyroid disorders for improved noninvasive diagnostics of thyroid diseases.