Chen Qingshan, Basford Jeffrey, An Kai-Nan
Biomechanics Laboratory, Division of Orthopedic Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Clin Biomech (Bristol). 2008 Jun;23(5):623-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2007.12.002. Epub 2008 Feb 21.
Myofascial taut bands are central to diagnosis of myofascial pain. Despite their importance, we still lack either a laboratory test or imaging technique capable of objectively confirming either their nature or location. This study explores the ability of magnetic resonance elastography to localize and investigate the mechanical properties of myofascial taut bands on the basis of their effects on shear wave propagation.
This study was conducted in three phases. The first involved the imaging of taut bands in gel phantoms, the second a finite element modeling of the phantom experiment, and the third a preliminary evaluation involving eight human subjects-four of whom had, and four of whom did not have myofascial pain. Experiments were performed with a 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Shear wave propagation was imaged and shear stiffness was reconstructed using matched filtering stiffness inversion algorithms.
The gel phantom imaging and finite element calculation experiments supported our hypothesis that taut bands can be imaged based on its outstanding shear stiffness. The preliminary human study showed a statistically significant 50-100% (P=0.01) increase of shear stiffness in the taut band regions of the involved subjects relative to that of the controls or in nearby uninvolved muscle.
This study suggests that magnetic resonance elastography may have a potential for objectively characterizing myofascial taut bands that have been up to now detectable only by the clinician's fingers.
肌筋膜紧张带是肌筋膜疼痛诊断的核心。尽管其很重要，但我们仍缺乏能够客观确认其性质或位置的实验室检测或成像技术。本研究基于肌筋膜紧张带对剪切波传播的影响，探讨磁共振弹性成像定位和研究其力学特性的能力。
本研究分三个阶段进行。第一阶段对凝胶体模中的紧张带进行成像，第二阶段对体模实验进行有限元建模，第三阶段对8名受试者进行初步评估，其中4名患有肌筋膜疼痛，4名未患。使用1.5T磁共振成像扫描仪进行实验。对剪切波传播进行成像，并使用匹配滤波刚度反演算法重建剪切刚度。
凝胶体模成像和有限元计算实验支持了我们的假设，即紧张带因其突出的剪切刚度而能够成像。初步人体研究显示，与对照组或附近未受累肌肉相比，受累受试者紧张带区域的剪切刚度有统计学意义的50%-100%（P=0.01）增加。
本研究表明，磁共振弹性成像可能有潜力客观地表征肌筋膜紧张带，而到目前为止，肌筋膜紧张带只能通过临床医生的手指检测到。
