Imaging study of female levator ani muscle by TUI, MRI and three dimensional MRI reconstruction

Objective:To identify the anatomical structures of nulliparous female levator ani muscle by tomographic ultrasound imaging (TUI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance reconstruction. Methods:10 nulliparous women with normal pelvic support were recruited in this study. Using TUI obtains images of levator ani muscle, and using MRI to scan levator ani muscle obtains images of thin slices. Then a three-dimensional model of the levator ani muscle is created by Mimics software. Results:TUI can display the composition of the levator ani muscle including puborectal, puboanal and puboperineal. MRI can display the composition of the levator ani muscle including puborectal, puboanal, puboperineal and iliococcygeus. TUI and MRI can neither display pubovaginal. The three-dimensional MRI reconstruction can perform multi-view observation of the shapes and components of levator ani muscle. Conclusions:TUI and MRI can identify the structures and compositions of levator ani muscle. However, MRI for the recognition of iliococcygeus is much better than TUI. The three-dimensional MRI reconstruction is more intuitive to show the three-dimensional form of levator ani muscle.