History of Thyroid Ultrasound

The thyroid is well suited to ultrasound study because of its superficial location, vascularity, size and echogenicity (1). In addition, the thyroid has a very high incidence of nodular disease, the vast majority benign. Most structural abnormalities of the thyroid need evaluation and monitoring, but not intervention (2). Thus, the thyroid was among the first organs to be well studied by ultrasound. The first reports of thyroid ultrasound appeared in the late 1960s. Between 1965 and 1970 there were seven articles published specific to thyroid ultrasound. In the last five years there have been over 1,300 published. Thyroid ultrasound has undergone a dramatic transformation from the cryptic deflections on an oscilloscope produced in A-mode scanning, to barely recognizable B-mode images, followed by initial low resolution gray scale, and now modern high resolution images. Recent advances in technology, including harmonic imaging, contrast studies, and three- dimensional reconstruction, have furthered the field.