In other words, preliminary findings show that a high elastography-to-2-D size ratio may indicate higher likelihood that the lesion is cancerous.

Training is probably the biggest barrier to wider adoption in the United States, though the automation helps reduce dependency on skill level, according to Siemens.


"Virtual Touch imaging is easy to explain. It relies on an acoustic push pulse from the transducer to compress the tissue -- not a manual force or push -- therefore it is much less user-dependent and the resulting image will be the same between users. It is extremely safe to use," said Clevert. He explained that doctors familiar with ultrasound equipment should be able to use the system after about an hour of training, though he cautions doctors with little ultrasound experience will take longer to learn the system.

This may be a relevant point of difference for the U.S. market, since ultrasound still hasn't made as much headway in the States compared with Europe — indeed, ultrasound proponents are still trying to push for more ultrasound training for doctors during medical school to get them more comfortable with the modality.

"It's a new technology people will need to learn and understand, but I think that should be something we can overcome relatively quickly," said Benson.

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