Wang Xiuming, Hu Yue, Zhu Jia'an, Gao Junxue, Chen Si, Liu Fang, Li Wenxue, Liu Yiqun, Ariun Bilig
Department of Ultrasound, Peking University People's Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South Street, Beijing 100044, China.
Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2020 Mar;10(3):754-765. doi: 10.21037/qims.2020.01.15.
Shear wave elastography is a promising method to diagnose early musculoskeletal lesions. We aimed to explore the feasible depth and acceptable precompression applied by probe and couplant for soft tissues in the present system.
muscles were evaluated at depths of 0.5-6 cm by 3 operators, using 1-5 mm couplant thickness and 0-3.0 kPa probe pressure. We compared the shear wave speed (SWS) and used intraclass correlation coefficients to assess reproducibility. skin and subcutaneous superficial fascia from volunteers were tested at depths ranging from 0.1-0.5 cm with 1-20 mm couplant thickness.
The SWS of muscles varied and increased with depth, and could not be acquired at 6 cm because the shear wave failed to be detected. Furthermore, while the SWS of muscles were not affected by the couplant thickness, it was affected by probe pressure. Most cases demonstrated a satisfactory agreement degree of the intraoperator reproducibility (ICC, 0.81-0.95) and a substantial interoperator reproducibility (ICC >0.60). Inter- and intra-operator reproducibility was better at a depth of 0.5-4 cm than at 5 cm. In the study, when tissues within a 0.2 cm depth were evaluated, the SWS that was acquired using a couplant thickness of >10 mm was different from that acquired using other thicknesses.
The SWS acquired at a depth of ≤3 cm with a suitable amount of couplant is recommended.
剪切波弹性成像技术是诊断早期肌肉骨骼病变的一种有前景的方法。我们旨在探究在当前系统中，探头和耦合剂对软组织施加的可行深度及可接受的预压缩量。
3名操作人员使用厚度为1 - 5毫米的耦合剂和0 - 3.0千帕的探头压力，在0.5 - 6厘米深度对肌肉进行评估。我们比较了剪切波速度（SWS），并使用组内相关系数评估可重复性。对志愿者的皮肤和皮下浅筋膜在0.1 - 0.5厘米深度、耦合剂厚度为1 - 20毫米的条件下进行测试。
肌肉的SWS随深度变化且增加，在6厘米深度无法获取，因为未检测到剪切波。此外，虽然肌肉的SWS不受耦合剂厚度影响，但受探头压力影响。大多数情况下，操作人员内的可重复性显示出令人满意的一致性程度（ICC，0.81 - 0.95），操作人员间的可重复性也相当可观（ICC > 0.60）。在0.5 - 4厘米深度，操作人员间和操作人员内的可重复性比在5厘米深度时更好。在本研究中，当评估深度在0.2厘米以内的组织时，使用厚度>10毫米的耦合剂获取的SWS与使用其他厚度耦合剂获取的不同。
建议使用适量耦合剂，在≤3厘米深度获取SWS。
