Open AccessMeasurement consistency of dynamic stretching muscle stiffness evaluated using shear wave elastography: comparison among different stretched levels and ROI sizes
Author(s) -
Xiao Liu,
Yu H,
Shuya Sheng,
Simin Liang,
Hao Lü,
Li-Xian Gu,
Fei Pei,
Min Pan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
medical ultrasonography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.473
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 2066-8643
pISSN - 1844-4172
DOI - 10.11152/mu-2731
Subject(s) - repeatability , intraclass correlation , medicine , ankle , stiffness , elastography , biomedical engineering , ultrasound , nuclear medicine , materials science , anatomy , mathematics , composite material , radiology , clinical psychology , statistics , psychometrics
Aim: To investigate the reliability of quantitative analysis of dynamic stretching muscle stiffness using shear wave elas-tography (SWE), and to evaluate the influence of stretched levels and region of interest (ROI) sizes on the repeatability of SWE measurements. Materials and methods: SWE videos of the gastrocnemius medius were collected during ankle movement from plantar flexion (PF) 40° to dorsiflexion (DF) 30°. Shear wave imageswere collected of ankle angles at PF 25°, 0°, DF 15°, and DF 30°, representing the slack status, mildly stretched level, moderately stretched level, and maximal stretched level of the gastrocnemius medius, respectively. ROI circles with diameters of 2 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm were applied to measure the shear modulus. Intra-observer, and inter-observer repeatability of the measurements were compared among different stretched levels and ROI sizes. Results: Twenty-one healthy volunteers were enrolled. Muscle stiffness increased as the ankle DF increased. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of intra-observer and inter-observer repeatability obtained for ROI sizes of 2 mm, 5 mm and 8 mm indicated good to excellent repeatability at all stretched levels. Conclusions: Shear wave elastography appeared to be a reliable tool to evaluate the dynamic stretching muscle stiffness with satisfactory repeatability at various stretched levels of gastrocnemius medius. Good to excellent repeatability was found using different ROI sizes.