Quantitative ultrasound tissue characterization in shoulder and thigh muscles – a new approach

Abstract

BackgroundThe echogenicity patterns of ultrasound scans contain information of tissue composition in muscles. The aim was: (1) to develop a quantitative ultrasound image analysis to characterize tissue composition in terms of intensity and structure of the ultrasound images, and (2) to use the method for characterization of ultrasound images of the supraspinatus muscle, and the vastus lateralis muscle.MethodsComputerized texture analyses employing first-order and higher-order grey-scale statistics were developed to objectively characterize ultrasound images of m. supraspinatus and m. vastus lateralis from 9 healthy participants.ResultsThe mean grey-scale intensity was higher in the vastus lateralis muscle (p < 0.05) than in the supraspinatus muscle (average value of middle measuring site 51.4 compared to 35.0). Furthermore, the number of spatially connected and homogeneous regions (blobs) was higher in the vastus lateralis (p < 0.05) than in the supraspinatus (average for m. vastus lateralis: 0.092 mm-2 and for m. supraspinatus: 0.016 mm-2).ConclusionThe higher intensity and the higher number of blobs in the vastus lateralis muscle indicates that the thigh muscle contained more non-contractile components than the supraspinatus muscle, and that the muscle was coarser. The image analyses supplemented each other and gave a more complete description of the tissue composition in the muscle than the mean grey-scale value alone.

Measurement of ageing effects on muscle tone and mechanical properties of rectus femoris and biceps brachii in healthy males and females using a novel hand-held myometric device

“…The RF muscle which forms part of a major muscle in the body, the quadriceps, is a long bipennate muscle with two rows of muscle fibres to allow greater power but less range of motion, while BB is a small spindle shaped muscle with short tendinous structure. Nielsen et al (2006) reported that the vastus lateralis muscle, another component of the quadriceps, contained more non-contractile components than supraspinatus muscle in the upper limb, using ultrasound imaging. It is possible that the overall greater tone and stiffness in the RF muscle observed in the present study could be as a result of the differences in non-contractile components in the lower limb muscle compared to those in the BB muscle.…”

Change in Ankle Dorsiflexion Range of Motion and Ultrasonographic Images of the Tibialis Anterior with Age

“…Pisels were given a value ranging from 0, pure black, to 255, pure white 15) . Dorsiflexion was measured with a goniometer (steal Goniometer stainless, BaseLine, USA).…”

“…It is easy to use and non-invasive; it is possible to compare both sides, there no risk of exposure to radioaction compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computerized tomography (CT), and it is cheap 14) . Nielsen et al 15) reported that evaluation of muscle density and the white area index can be used for analyzing qualitative structure, and Sipila et al 16) reported measuring the cross of the tibialis anterior with ultrasonography and calculating its volume.…”

El análisis textural mediante las matrices de co-ocurrencia (GLCM) sobre imagen ecográfica del tendón rotuliano es de utilidad para la detección cambios histológicos tras un entrenamiento con plataforma de vibración. (Textural Analysis by Means of a Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix Method on Patellar Tendon Ultrasonography is Useful for the Detection of Histological Changes after Whole-Body Vibration Training)

“…Nielsen et al, (2006), para la caracterización y descripción de la musculatura mediante imagen ecográfica. Aunque estos autores sólo utilizaron parámetros de primer orden y no las matrices de concurrencia.…”