Decade-long landscape of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) in prostate cancer research: trends, collaborations, and emerging frontiers.
Authors
Affiliations (3)
Affiliations (3)
- Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Ezhou Central Hospital, Ezhou, Hubei, China.
- Department of Urology, Ezhou Central Hospital, Ezhou, Hubei, China.
- Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Ezhou Central Hospital, Ezhou, Hubei, China. [email protected].
Abstract
To systematically reveal the spatiotemporal distribution, collaboration networks, and thematic evolution of global transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) research in prostate cancer from 2015 to 2024 using bibliometric analysis and visualization. A total of 12,894 relevant articles from the Web of Science database were analyzed using VOSviewer and CiteSpace for co-occurrence networks, burst detection, and density visualization, combined with social network analysis (SNA) and kernel density estimation (KDE) to decode country/institution collaboration patterns and geographical agglomeration. Annual publications peaked at 1800 in 2019, with a secondary surge in 2023 (1563 articles) driven by AI applications (e.g., AI-assisted biopsy). Mean citations per article reached 7.8 in 2020, coinciding with the release of GLOBOCAN 2020 and the rise of teleultrasound research. The United States (5333 articles) and Canada formed the North American core cluster (edge weight 5333 × 1099), while the UK (1287 articles) and Germany served as secondary hubs in Europe. Asian countries showed scattered distributions, though South Korea (2015-2017 burst strength 7.64, elastography) and Australia (2019-2022 burst strength 8.33, focal ablation) emerged as regional technical frontiers. The University of Toronto (242 articles) led TRUS-targeted biopsy research, while the University of Michigan became a rising affiliation due to TRUS-AI integration (post-2020 annual publications > 50). The high-impact journal J Clin Oncol (5783 citations) focused on fusion biopsy, with annual articles increasing from 42 to 117.Keywords shifted from "systematic biopsy" (2015-2017) and "radiotherapy planning" (2018-2020) to "AI-assisted diagnosis" (2021-2024 burst strength 20.6) and "teleultrasound" (COVID-19-related studies, annual growth 19%), reflecting technology-driven clinical transformation. TRUS research exhibits significant regional inequality and technological iteration, with AI integration and multimodal fusion (e.g., MRI-TRUS fusion) as future priorities. Strengthening cross-regional collaboration is recommended to promote technological equity, particularly for low-cost TRUS innovations in resource-constrained regions.