Buffet-García Jorge, Plaza-Manzano Gustavo, Varol Umut, Ríos-León Marta, Díaz-Arribas María José, Álvarez-González Javier, Sánchez-Jorge Sandra, Valera-Calero Juan Antonio
Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón, Spain.
Department of Radiology, Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2024 Jan 15;11(1):82. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11010082.
Extended field-of-view ultrasound (US) imaging, also known as panoramic US, represents a technical advance that allows for complete visualization of large musculoskeletal structures, which are often limited in conventional 2D US images. Currently, there is no evidence examining whether the experience of examiners influences muscle shape deformations that may arise during the glide of the transducer in panoramic US acquisition. As no studies using panoramic US have analyzed whether two examiners with differing levels of experience might obtain varying scores in size, shape, or brightness during the US assessment of the rectus femoris muscle, our aim was to analyze the inter-examiner reliability of panoramic US imaging acquisition in determining muscle size, shape, and brightness between two examiners. Additionally, we sought to investigate whether the examiners' experience plays a significant role in muscle deformations during imaging acquisition by assessing score differences. Shape (circularity, aspect ratio, and roundness), size (cross-sectional area and perimeter), and brightness (mean echo intensity) were analyzed in 39 volunteers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), standard error of measurements (SEM), minimal detectable changes (MDC), and coefficient of absolute errors (CAE%) were calculated. All parameters evaluated showed no significant differences between the two examiners ( > 0.05). Panoramic US proved to be reliable, regardless of examiner experience, as no deformations were observed. Further research is needed to corroborate the validity of panoramic US by comparing this method with gold standard techniques.
扩展视野超声(US)成像,也称为全景超声,是一项技术进步,它能够完整显示大型肌肉骨骼结构,而这些结构在传统二维超声图像中常常受到限制。目前,尚无证据表明检查者的经验是否会影响在全景超声采集过程中换能器滑动时可能出现的肌肉形状变形。由于尚无使用全景超声的研究分析过两名经验水平不同的检查者在对股直肌进行超声评估时,在大小、形状或亮度方面是否会得出不同分数,因此我们的目的是分析全景超声成像采集在两名检查者之间确定肌肉大小、形状和亮度时的检查者间可靠性。此外,我们试图通过评估分数差异来研究检查者的经验在成像采集过程中对肌肉变形是否起重要作用。对39名志愿者的形状(圆形度、长宽比和圆度)、大小(横截面积和周长)和亮度(平均回声强度)进行了分析。计算了组内相关系数(ICC)、测量标准误差(SEM)、最小可检测变化(MDC)和绝对误差系数(CAE%)。所有评估参数在两名检查者之间均无显著差异(>0.05)。无论检查者经验如何,全景超声均被证明是可靠的,因为未观察到变形。需要进一步研究通过将该方法与金标准技术进行比较来证实全景超声的有效性。