Automated measurements of morphological parameters of muscles and tendons

Abstract

Capturing accurate representations of musculoskeletal system morphology is a core aspect of musculoskeletal modelling of the upper limb. Measurements of important geometric parameters such as the thickness of muscles and tendons are key descriptors of the underlying morphology. Though the measurement of those parameters can be estimated manually using cadaveric measurements, this is not an appropriate technique for constructing a personalised musculoskeletal model for an individual. Therefore, this work proposes and applies a novel method for evaluating the geometric parameters of the upper extremity based on automated ultrasound image analysis. The proposed algorithm involves advanced techniques from artificial intelligence and image processing to outline the necessary details of the musculoskeletal morphology from appropriately enhanced ultrasound images. The ultrasound images were collected from 25 healthy volunteers from different parts of upper limb. The results were compared with measurements of a manual evaluation. Our results showed that the average discrepancy between the manual and automatic measures of triceps thickness is 0.115 mm. This represents improved accuracy compared to several current approaches.

Development of Continuous Assessment of Muscle Quality and Frailty in Older Patients Using Multiparametric Combinations of Ultrasound and Blood Biomarkers: Protocol for the ECOFRAIL Study

“…Literature references Description Biomarker [72,73] Automatic muscle morphometric analysis based on neural network segmentation models trained with respect to sonographer annotations of rectus femoris cross section, and 2D Fourier analysis of pennation angle. [47,48,50] Measurement of loss of signal intensity with depth.…”

A new method of contrast enhancement of musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging based on fuzzy inference technique

“…A written consent letters were signed by those participants. Data was collected based on the institutional ethical guidelines (Ref No: ERP1290) from Keele University [2].…”

“…Informed consent was signed by participants in accordance with institutional ethics guidelines (Ref No: ERP1290). This data came from longitudinal scanning of the triceps tendon, one snapshot from the olecranon process of the ulnar,see figure 4, which is based from [2] A LOGIQ S7 ultrasound machine was used at 12MHz and the static scanning technique was used.…”

“…Ultrasound imaging systems are useful to researchers because they are portable, free from radiation and magnetic fields, flexible, and are lower cost than many alternative imaging modalities. Additionally, ultrasonography can be used in both dynamic and static scanning modes [1,2]. However, these ultrasound image acquisition techniques are fraught with limitations, such as noise (speckle noise) and low contrast, which impact negatively on the quality and clarity of subsequent image interpretation.…”

Quantitative and Comparative Analysis of Effectivity and Robustness for Enhanced and Optimized Non-Local Mean Filter Combining Pixel and Patch Information on MR Images of Musculoskeletal System

“…In principle, we can divide this system into a system of muscles, which are their own executors of motion, and a bone (support) system, where, in addition to bones, we can also include joints, ligaments and tendons [1][2][3][4]. In addition to the basic motor functions, this complex system performs many other indispensable tasks, such as upright posture, protection of vital organs, especially the central nervous system and organs in the abdominal cavity, heat generation needed to maintain a constant body temperature, metabolic function protein supply and, finally, communication functions (e.g., the contraction of mimic muscles expresses our feelings, gesticulation is an important part of interpersonal communication) [5,6]. Based on these facts, the musculoskeletal system is substantially important for a range of human activities.…”