Reliability of ultrasound to measure morphology of the toe flexor muscles

Mickle, Karen J.; Nester, Christopher; Crofts, Gillian; Steele, Julie R.

doi:10.1186/1757-1146-5-s1-o38

Cited by 29 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Images of the muscles were obtained using a standardized procedure that has been shown to have high intra-and interrater reliability (14,15). Ultrasound coupling gel was applied over the transducer and skin at each of the measurement sites.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology of the Toe Flexor Muscles in Older Adults With Toe Deformities

Mickle

Nester

2018

Arthritis Care & Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This is the first study to use ultrasound to investigate the size of the toe flexor muscles in older adults with hallux valgus and lesser toe deformities compared to otherwise healthy older adults. The sizes of the abductor hallucis and flexor hallucis brevis muscles were decreased in participants with hallux valgus, whereas the quadratus plantae, flexor digitorum brevis, abductor hallucis, and flexor hallucis brevis muscles were smaller in the participants with lesser toe deformities.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphology of the Toe Flexor Muscles in Older Adults With Toe Deformities

Mickle

Nester

2018

Arthritis Care & Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…5,12,18 The region of interest ( Figure 1B) was between the deep and middle aponeuroses of the muscle as it was thicker than the more superficial part, as reported previously. 30 Thus, analysis error may also be relatively small in this region due to the longer fascicles. The initial and end points of a straight line from the deep to the middle aponeurosis were assigned parallel to the lines of collagenous tissue visible on the appointed ultrasound frame and used to represent fascicle length.…”

Section: Ultrasoundmentioning

confidence: 99%

In vivo fascicle behavior of the flexor hallucis longus muscle at different walking speeds

Péter

Hegyi

Finni

et al. 2017

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ankle plantar flexor muscles support and propel the body in the stance phase of locomotion. Besides the triceps surae, flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL) may also contribute to this role, but very few in vivo studies have examined FHL function during walking. Here, we investigated FHL fascicle behavior at different walking speeds. Ten healthy males walked overground at three different speeds while FHL fascicle length changes were recorded with ultrasound and muscle activity was recorded with surface electromyography (EMG). Fascicle length at heel strike at toe off and at peak EMG activity did not change with speed. Range of FHL fascicle length change (3.5‐4.5 and 1.9‐2.9 mm on average in stance and push‐off phase, respectively), as well as minimum (53.5‐54.9 and 53.8‐55.7 mm) and maximum (58‐58.4 and 56.8‐57.7 mm) fascicle length did not change with speed in the stance or push‐off phase. Mean fascicle velocity did not change in the stance phase, but increased significantly in the push‐off phase between slow and fast walking speeds (P=.021). EMG activity increased significantly in both phases from slow to preferred and preferred to fast speed (P<.02 in all cases). FHL muscle fascicles worked near‐isometrically during the whole stance phase (at least during slow walking) and operated at approximately the same length at different walking speeds. FHL and medial gastrocnemius (MG) have similar fiber length to muscle belly length ratios and, according to our results, also exhibit similar fascicle behavior at different walking speeds.

show abstract

“…These are of particular importance when muscle size changes are small and therefore difficult to detect, such as when evaluating interventional effects on the small muscles of the foot and lower leg. Several previously published studies have documented US protocols, which resulted in excellent reliability of cross‐sectional area (CSA) and thickness measurements of lower leg and foot muscles . Although optimal US settings (eg, transducer and frequency selection, depth, and focus position) are assumed across studies, transducer placement strategies and techniques have not been well standardized.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although optimal US settings (eg, transducer and frequency selection, depth, and focus position) are assumed across studies, transducer placement strategies and techniques have not been well standardized. Measurements of the foot muscles, for example, have been performed at the thickest part of the muscle, 50% of the foot length, and various positions on the leg referenced to internal bony landmarks . When measuring the abductor hallucis (ABDH) thickness, Mickle et al 20 found higher intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and lower limits of agreement (LoAs) when using the medial malleolus landmark as opposed to the thickest part of the muscle, suggesting that the use of landmarks is likely more reliable than image‐based subjective locations.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Cine Loops and Structural Landmarks in Ultrasound Image Processing Improves Reliability and Reduces Error in the Assessment of Foot and Leg Muscles

Johnson

Stoneman

McClung

et al. 2019

J of Ultrasound Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives-Foot and leg muscle strength and size are crucial to proper function. It is important to assess these characteristics reliably. Our primary objective was to compare the measurement of still images to cine loops. The secondary purpose was to determine interoperator and intraoperator reliability between operators of different experience levels using video clips and internal and external landmarks.Methods-Twelve healthy volunteers participated in our study. Internal (navicular tuberosity) and external (lateral leg length at 30% and 50% from the knee joint line) landmarks were used. Two operators each captured and later measured still and cine loop images of selected foot and leg muscles.Results-The 12 participants included 8 male and 4 female volunteers (mean age AE SD, 23.5 AE 1.9 years). Good to excellent intraoperator and interoperator reliability was seen (intraclass correlation coefficient range of 0.946-0.998). The use of cine loops improved the intraclass correlation coefficients for both intraoperator and interoperator reliability (0.5%-4% increases). The use of cine loops decreased the intraoperator standard error of the measurement and limits of agreement of the novice operator (decreases of 45%-73% and 24%-51%, respectively), and these became comparable to those of experienced operators using still images. The interoperator standard errors of the measurement dropped by 42% to 53%, whereas the limits of agreement dropped by 27% to 40%. No substantial changes were noted in the tibialis anterior across reliability metrics.Conclusions-Improved protocols that take advantage of using internal bony landmarks and cine loops during both the image-gathering and measurement processes improve the reliability of research examining muscle size changes in the lower leg or foot associated with muscle changes due to exercise, injury, disuse, or disease.

show abstract

Reliability of ultrasound to measure morphology of the toe flexor muscles

Cited by 29 publications

References 2 publications

Morphology of the Toe Flexor Muscles in Older Adults With Toe Deformities

Morphology of the Toe Flexor Muscles in Older Adults With Toe Deformities

In vivo fascicle behavior of the flexor hallucis longus muscle at different walking speeds

Use of Cine Loops and Structural Landmarks in Ultrasound Image Processing Improves Reliability and Reduces Error in the Assessment of Foot and Leg Muscles

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About