Current Developments and Role of Intestinal Ultrasound including the Advent of AI

Abstract

Intestinal ultrasound is a non-invasive, safe, and cost-effective technique to study the small and large intestines. In addition to conventional B-mode and color doppler imaging, new US tools have been developed in more recent years that provide auxiliary data on many GI conditions, improving the diagnosis and assessment of relevant outcomes. We have reviewed the more recent literature (from 2010 onwards) on auxiliary tools in bowel ultrasound such as elastography techniques, CEUS, SICUS, and the potential contribution by artificial intelligence (AI) to overcome current intestinal ultrasound limitations. For this scoping review, we performed an extensive literature search on PubMed and EMBASE to identify studies published until December 2023 and investigating the application of elastography techniques, CEUS, SICUS, and AI in the ultrasonographic assessment of the small and large intestines. Multiparametric intestinal ultrasound shows promising capabilities in Crohn’s disease, while less is known about the role in ulcerative colitis. Despite some evidence, the CEUS role as a point-of-care examination tool for rare conditions such as intestinal GvHD and ischemic small bowel disease seems promising, possibly avoiding the need to perform further cross-sectional imaging. The use of AI in intestinal ultrasound is still anecdotical and limited to acute appendicitis.