Payne, Catherine, Watt, Peter, Cercignani, Mara and Webborn, Nick (2017) Reproducibility of shear wave elastography measuresof the Achilles tendon. Skeletal Radiology, 47 (6). pp. 779-784. ISSN 0364-2348

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE

To assess the reproducibility of shear wave elastography (SWE) measures in the Achilles tendon (AT) in vivo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Shear wave velocity (SWV) of 14 healthy volunteers [7 males, 7 females; mean age 26.5 ± 3.8 years, mean height 171.6 ± 10.9 cm, mean Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment Achilles questionnaire (VISA-A) score 99.4 ± 1.2] was measured with the foot relaxed and fixed at 90°. Data were collected over five consecutive measures and 5 consecutive days.

RESULTS

Mean SWV values ranged from 7.91 m/s-9.56 m/s ± 0.27-0.50 m/s. Coefficient of variation (CV), correlations and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) scores ranged from 2.9%-6.3%, 0.4-0.7 and 0.54-0.85 respectively. No significant differences were noted for longitudinal or transverse data with respect to protocol or time and no significant differences were noted for foot position in transverse data. Significant differences in SWV values were noted between foot positions for longitudinal scanning (p = <0.05), with a relaxed foot position providing SWV values on average 0.47 m/s faster than a fixed position. Increased reproducibility was obtained with the foot relaxed. ICC between operators was 0.70 for transverse and 0.80 for longitudinal scanning.

CONCLUSIONS

Reproducible SWE measures were obtained over a 1-h period as well as a period of 5 consecutive days with more reliable measures obtained from a longitudinal plane using a relaxed foot position. SWE also has a high level of agreement between operators making SWE a reproducible technique for quantitatively assessing the mechanical properties of the human AT in vivo.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Elastography, Shear wave elastography, Achilles tendon, Ultrasound imaging
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Neuroscience
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General) > R895 Medical physics. Medical radiology. Nuclear medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0581 Specialties of internal medicine > RC1200 Sports medicine
Depositing User:	Patricia Butler
Date Deposited:	03 May 2018 15:22
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2019 13:33
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/75605

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