Influence of the ultrasound transducer tilt on muscle thickness and echo intensity of the rectus femoris muscle of healthy subjects.
Hiroshi Ishida, Tadanobu Suehiro, Keita Suzuki and 2 others
PMID 29643602WHAT IT FOUND
Ultrasound probe tilt by 6 or 9 degrees did not detect a change in muscle thickness, but did change echo intensity in 14 healthy young men.
Keep probe angle consistent when comparing echo intensity.
Key findings
01Transducer tilt changed echo intensity, but not muscle thickness.
02Muscle thickness differences were not larger than the minimal detectable change.
03Echo intensity differences were larger than the minimal detectable change except between the reference and +3° conditions.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 14 healthy male volunteers were tested, and they were young physiotherapy students. The study did not test older individuals with sarcopenia, the group mentioned in the introduction. The study did not include women, so the influence of gender remains unknown. Only the rectus femoris was tested, and muscle fiber direction differs among muscles. Transducer rotation and medial/lateral tilt were not measured exactly. The reference angle was chosen subjectively to make the rectus femoris look more hyper-echoic.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read a change in echo intensity between scans as a real change in the muscle. In these healthy young men, cranial transducer tilt changed echo intensity at +6° and +9°, and only healthy young men were tested.