Comparison of medical of volume measurement of the prostate by transrectal ultrasound: Experiment with jelly models

To evaluate the accuracy of measuring the volume of the prostate using the prolate ellipsoid volume calculation method (antero-posterior (AP) diameter X length X width X π6) when the antero-posterior diameter of the prostate was measured on midsagittal (sagittal volume) and axial plane (axial volume).The devil's tongue jelly was used for the creation of ultrasound model of the prostate (volume: 15-40 cc) by cutting and shaping the surface. The volume in 10 prostatic models and 30 patients was measured and calculated. First, the AP diameter and length of the prostate models in midsagittal plane, and the height and width of the models in axial plane were measured for 3 times. The volume was calculated in two ways, one using the AP diameter an midsagittal plane and the other using the AP diameter in axial plane. The true volume of the model was measured using mess cylinder. The calculated volume and true volume were compared, and the accuracy of two method of measuring the prostatic volume was evaluated by Friedman test. The intraobserver variation was evaluated by General Linear Model, Repeated Measure. The reproducibility was evaluated by Cronbach's α. In vivo study was also performed in 30 patients. The prostate volume was calculated in the same manner. These volume data were analyzed by statistical method, and the intraobeserver variation was evaluated. While there was a statistically significant difference between the sagittal and true volume of the models, there was no statistical significant difference between the axial and true volumes. There was no significant intraobserver variation between both methods. The reproducibility was high in both methods with Cronbach's α of 0.977 and 0.942. The sagittal volume was larger than the axial volume in 30 patients with a statistically significant difference. There was no significant intraobserver variation in both methods. The reproducibility was high in both methods Cronbach's α of 0.991 and 0994. The volumetric methods for the prostate using the antero-posterior diameter measured in axial plane was more accurate than on midsagittal plane.