Medical Technology Depart

Ultrasound Imaging Department

The Department of Ultrasound provides high quality comprehensive clinical ultrasound and related services for the management of patients attending Hangzhou First People’s Hospital. By the efforts of generations, the Department has been developed into a base which integrates clinical, teaching, scientific research and integration. At present, there are 60 staff members, including 5 chief physicians, 17 associate chief physicians, 19 attending physicians, 8 residents, 2 nurses, 7 medical assistants, and 2 front desk clerks. We have 33 ultrasonic apparatus of various brands such as Philips, Siemens, GE, Esaote, Samsung, etc. We also have advanced microwave radio frequency therapy, laser radio frequency therapy and other interventional therapy equipment. Nine specialties were set up in the department to undertake the corresponding clinical and teaching work:

- interventional ultrasound

- superficial ultrasound

- cardiac ultrasound

- obstetrics and gynecology ultrasound

- abdominal and urinary ultrasound

- musculoskeletal ultrasound

- pediatrics ultrasound

- vascular ultrasound

- intensive care ultrasound

In the future, our adept disciplines will continue to grow stronger, and a one-stop center focusing on referral and consultation will be established as the breast imaging center and interventional diagnosis center.

Clinical Superiority

1、Breast Ultrasound Multimodal Diagnosis/Automatic Breast Volume Ultrasound

Automatic breast volume ultrasound uses the automatic scanning of a wide-range and high-frequency probe to achieve a standardized scanning of the breast and reduce miss diagnosis. The coronal plane provides three-dimensional information for differential diagnosis and has obvious advantages in diagnosis of early breast cancer, BI-RADS classification evaluation of breast nodules, clinical staging of breast tumors, evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and breast cancer screening. As the first hospital in China to have automatic breast volume ultrasound, we introduced it to our department in 2010 and has been taking a leading role in relevant clinical research. At present, both the cumulative case number and the diagnosis are at the forefront domestically. In 2018, based on the completion of 30,000 patients, we released the first automatic breast full-volume imaging system operating process in China and formulated inspection specifications for the industry.

Our team has published more than 40 related articles including SCI, published research results at international conferences such as RSNA and WFUMB. We also carried out national multi-center research. An international continuing education class is held annually, serving as a training base to train more than 200 doctors for major hospitals across the country. It strengthened international exchanges and it is supported by experts from Europe, America, and the Asia-Pacific region for academic exchanges and cooperation every year.

We have established a multi-modal and multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment model for breast ultrasound, and has rich experience in breast ultrasound elastography, ultrasound contrast and virtual fusion navigation. Virtual fusion navigation plays a role in precise positioning for surgeons and also brings good news to patients by importing magnetic resonance images and ultrasound for virtual fusion to find high-risk nodules detected by magnetic resonance. Our hospital is the earliest and only one to introduce this technology in China.

2、Diagnosis and treatment of interventional ultrasound

The department of ultrasound has started ultrasound-guided interventional therapy since the 1990s and was one of the first units to carry out ultrasound interventional diagnosis and treatment. At present, the ultrasonic intervention center has 2 chief physicians, 3 associate chief physicians, 3 attending physicians, 2 residents, 2 nurses, and 1 physician.

After 20 years of development, from the completion of dozens of interventional operations in the first year to more than 8,000 in the current year, the total number of interventional operations has increased significantly, and the diagnosis and treatment projects continues to expand. The scope of surgery includes:

-  laser ablation of benign prostatic hyperplasia

-  radiofrequency, microwave, and laser ablation of thyroid tumors

-  puncture diagnosis and thermal ablation treatment of small lung nodules

-  ablation treatment of liver, kidney, and metastatic lymph node tumors

-  severe pancreatitis caused drainage of abscesses in the abdominal cavity and posterior peritoneum

-  drainage treatment of liver, kidney, and adnexal cysts and treatment of postoperative complications

3、Ultrasonic prenatal diagnosis

Our hospital started to carry out ultrasonic prenatal diagnosis in 2009. It was the first medical institution to obtain prenatal diagnosis qualification in Hangzhou. Fetal echocardiography, fetal screening in early and middle pregnancy, ultrasound-guided amniotic fluid, villus, cord blood puncture, selective fetal reduction, and intrauterine blood transfusion were carried out earlier.

As a rescue center for critically ill pregnant and lying-in women in Hangzhou, the ultrasonic team of obstetrics and gynecology participates in the rescue of nearly 500 women every year and in the diagnosis and treatment of dangerous placenta previa, placental abruption, critical pregnancy complications, and perinatal hemorrhage. In recent years, we also pay attention to postpartum health and the pelvic floor muscle function.

Benefiting from the strengths of scientific research of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, we make full use of the advantages of strong technical personnel and equipment and key disciplines in Hangzhou to improve the birth quality of the population, reduce birth defects, and escort healthy babies.

4、Echocardiography

Echocardiography is a non-invasive examination that can check the shape and structure of the heart and the condition of the valves, observe the changes in heart function and hemodynamics. It plays an important role in efficacy evaluation and prognostic follow-up of patients, especially in congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathy, coronary heart disease, rheumatic heart disease and other heart diseases.

We have further expanded our clinical services and research on the basis of traditional echocardiography. The current projects also include transesophageal echocardiography which can observe the structure of the heart and make clearer early diagnosis of some subtle lesions, three-dimensional echocardiography, intraoperative esophageal echocardiography, interventional cardiac ultrasonic evaluation(pre-operative evaluation of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, intra-operative monitoring, post-operative follow-up, current interventional cardiac surgery including atrial occlusion, ventricular occlusion, patent ductus arteriosus occlusion, left atrial appendage occlusion, TAVI, mitral stenosis balloon dilatation, etc.), bedside evaluation of the heart of critically ill patients (hemodynamic instability, heart and related organs in critically ill patients), as well as cardiac echocardiography.