Assessment of peripheral muscle thickness and architecture in healthy volunteers using hand-held ultrasound devices; a comparison study with standard ultrasound

Peter Turton,Richard Hay,Ingeborg Welters

doi:10.1186/s12880-019-0373-x

Peter Turton, Richard Hay + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12880-019-0373-x

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Abstract

BackgroundPocket-sized ultrasound devices are increasingly used in a variety of clinical situations, and perform well against standard ultrasound machines. We sought to investigate if a pocket-sized ultrasound device can assess muscle thickness and architecture in healthy volunteers.MethodsHealthy male volunteers (n = 21) across a range of ages were recruited to the study. Laying supine, ultrasound images were taken from the right anterior and lateral thigh. Thickness of the rectus femoris (RFMT), vastus intermedius (VIMT), and the two combined (anterior thigh, AMT) were measured, along with thickness of vastus lateralis (VLMT), pennation angle (VLPA) and derived fascicle length (VLFL). These scans were performed initially using a pocket-sized ultrasound (VScan) and then using a standard device (Telemed Echoblaster 128).ResultsIn all six variables, there was no significant difference between the two sets of measurements. Intra-class correlation co-efficients (ICC) for VLMT, VLPA, and AMT were all excellent (0.93, 0.89, 0.90 respectively) with the derived value of VLFL having an ICC of 0.84. All ICC values were statistically significant. Regression analysis demonstrated no evidence of proportional bias in any of the measured or derived variables.ConclusionA pocket-sized ultrasound device gives similar measurements of lower limb muscle thickness and architecture as a standard device in healthy volunteers.

Highlights

Pocket-sized ultrasound devices are increasingly used in a variety of clinical situations, and perform well against standard ultrasound machines
We aim to assess whether a pocket-sized device will accurately measure muscle thickness and architecture in the anterior and lateral thigh, in healthy male volunteers, compared to a standard ultrasound machine
Assuming that the deep aponeurosis runs at a right angle to the measured line of muscle thickness, the fascicle was treated as the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle, and calculated from the following formula: Vastus lateralis fascicle length (VLFL) 1⁄4 sin ðVLPAÞ x Vastus lateralis muscle thickness (VLMT)

Summary

Introduction

Pocket-sized ultrasound devices are increasingly used in a variety of clinical situations, and perform well against standard ultrasound machines. We sought to investigate if a pocket-sized ultrasound device can assess muscle thickness and architecture in healthy volunteers. The devices are being used in the qualitative assessment of patients, allowing rapid assessment and diagnosis of abdominal [1], aortic [2] and gynaecological [3] pathologies. Pocket-sized devices have been validated for obstetric measurements [5] and in the estimation of optic nerve sheath diameter [6]. These studies have used the pocket sized Vscan device (GE Healthcare, United States), other pocket sized. The use of ultrasound to assess muscle thickness and architecture is well documented across a number of patient populations. Ultrasound systems have been used in sports science to detect fat content within muscle [13], and to estimate depth of subcutaneous fat layers [14]

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