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Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography
The assessment of the force–length relationship under mechanical loading is widely used to evaluate the mechanical properties of tendons and to gain information about their adaptation, function, and injury. This study aimed to provide a time-efficient ultrasound method for assessing Achilles tendon...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2022
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9002634/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35408164 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22072549 |
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author | Hunter, Steve Werth, Julian James, Darren Lambrianides, Yiannis Smith, Kenton Karamanidis, Kiros Epro, Gaspar |
author_facet | Hunter, Steve Werth, Julian James, Darren Lambrianides, Yiannis Smith, Kenton Karamanidis, Kiros Epro, Gaspar |
author_sort | Hunter, Steve |
collection | PubMed |
description | The assessment of the force–length relationship under mechanical loading is widely used to evaluate the mechanical properties of tendons and to gain information about their adaptation, function, and injury. This study aimed to provide a time-efficient ultrasound method for assessing Achilles tendon mechanical properties. On two days, eleven healthy young non-active adults performed eight maximal voluntary isometric ankle plantarflexion contractions on a dynamometer with simultaneous ultrasonographic recording. Maximal tendon elongation was assessed by digitizing ultrasound images at rest and at maximal tendon force. Achilles tendon stiffness index was calculated from the ratio of tendon force-to-strain. No within- and between-day differences were detected between the proposed method and manual frame by frame tracking in Achilles tendon maximal force, maximal elongation, maximal strain, and stiffness index. The overall coefficient of variation between trials ranged from 3.4% to 10.3% and average difference in tendon tracking between methods was less than 0.6% strain. Furthermore, an additional assessment demonstrated significant differences between elite athletes, healthy young, and older adults in Achilles tendon force and stiffness index. Hence, the analysis has the potential to reliably and accurately monitor changes in Achilles tendon mechanical properties due to aging and altered mechanical loading in a time-efficient manner. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9002634 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-90026342022-04-13 Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography Hunter, Steve Werth, Julian James, Darren Lambrianides, Yiannis Smith, Kenton Karamanidis, Kiros Epro, Gaspar Sensors (Basel) Article The assessment of the force–length relationship under mechanical loading is widely used to evaluate the mechanical properties of tendons and to gain information about their adaptation, function, and injury. This study aimed to provide a time-efficient ultrasound method for assessing Achilles tendon mechanical properties. On two days, eleven healthy young non-active adults performed eight maximal voluntary isometric ankle plantarflexion contractions on a dynamometer with simultaneous ultrasonographic recording. Maximal tendon elongation was assessed by digitizing ultrasound images at rest and at maximal tendon force. Achilles tendon stiffness index was calculated from the ratio of tendon force-to-strain. No within- and between-day differences were detected between the proposed method and manual frame by frame tracking in Achilles tendon maximal force, maximal elongation, maximal strain, and stiffness index. The overall coefficient of variation between trials ranged from 3.4% to 10.3% and average difference in tendon tracking between methods was less than 0.6% strain. Furthermore, an additional assessment demonstrated significant differences between elite athletes, healthy young, and older adults in Achilles tendon force and stiffness index. Hence, the analysis has the potential to reliably and accurately monitor changes in Achilles tendon mechanical properties due to aging and altered mechanical loading in a time-efficient manner. MDPI 2022-03-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9002634/ /pubmed/35408164 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22072549 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Hunter, Steve Werth, Julian James, Darren Lambrianides, Yiannis Smith, Kenton Karamanidis, Kiros Epro, Gaspar Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title | Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title_full | Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title_fullStr | Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title_full_unstemmed | Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title_short | Reliability and Accuracy of a Time-Efficient Method for the Assessment of Achilles Tendon Mechanical Properties by Ultrasonography |
title_sort | reliability and accuracy of a time-efficient method for the assessment of achilles tendon mechanical properties by ultrasonography |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9002634/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35408164 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22072549 |
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