title: Measurement of tendon velocities using vector tissue Doppler imaging: a feasibility study.
abstract: We have developed a vector Doppler ultrasound imaging method to directly quantify the magnitude and direction of muscle and tendon velocities during movement. The goal of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using vector Tissue Doppler Imaging (vTDI) for estimating the tibialis anterior tendon velocities during dorsiflexion in children with cerebral palsy who have foot drop. Our preliminary results from this study show that tendon velocities estimated using vTDI have a strong linear correlation with the joint angular velocity estimated using a conventional 3D motion capture system. We observed a peak tendon velocity of 5.66±1.45 cm/s during dorsiflexion and a peak velocity of 8.83±2.13 cm/s during the passive relaxation phase of movement. We also obtained repeatable results from the same subject 3 weeks apart. Direct measurements of muscle and tendon velocities may be used as clinical outcome measures and for studying efficiency of movement control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. ssikdar@gmu.edu
authors.forename: Avinash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eranki
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Prosser
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bland
authors.forename: Katharine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alter
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Damiano
authors.forename: Siddhartha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sikdar
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009132:Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013710:Tendons / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000379:methods*; D058067:Wavelet Analysis