title: Quantitative Assessment of Healthy Skin Elasticity: Reliability and Feasibility of Shear Wave Elastography.
abstract: The goal of this study was to investigate the reliability and feasibility of shear wave elastography by assessing the elasticity of the healthy skin of 40 volunteers. Young's moduli for bilateral fingers, forearms, anterior chest (sternum), and anterior abdomen were determined with both transverse and longitudinal sectional measurements. Reliability of measurements was evaluated using intra- and inter-class correlation coefficients with two observers. Our results revealed that the elastic modulus values of the skin between symmetric parts of fingers and forearms did not statistically different. No differences were found between the transverse and longitudinal sections of forearms, anterior chest, and abdomen (p > 0.05), except for middle fingers (p = 0.004). Inter-observer and intra-observer repeatability (inter- and intra-class correlation coefficients) varied from moderate to excellent depending on the skin site (0.62-0.91). In conclusion, shear wave elastography reached a good consistency in measuring healthy skin elasticity. Further studies are needed to provide more information on the factors that influence the reliability of shear wave elastography measurements in both healthy and diseased skin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Clinical Ultrasound Imaging Drug Research Lab, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yujia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yuanjiao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Liyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: wsqiuli@126.com.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004548:Elasticity / Q000502:physiology; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena
keywords: Healthy skin elasticity; Inter- and intra-class correlation coefficients; Shear wave elastography