Using high-resolution ultrasound such as is employed, for example, in endoscopic ultrasonography,
the walls of hollow organs are visualized as layered structures. The correlation of
these “acoustic layers” with the histological layers, is of particular interest for
the staging of early malignant lesions. Both clinically and experimentally, we made
an attempt to determine the extent to which, at a transducer frequency of 7 MHz, such
a correlation is possible. Our investigations show that, although reflection phenomena
can mimic and “overlap” anatomical layers, the important boundary between the submucosa
and the muscularis propria is principially identifiable.
Endoscopc ultrasonography - Early carcinoma - Stomach wall
