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Gallet J, Sassaroli E, Yuan Q, Aljabal A, Park MA. Quality Assurance of Point and 2D Shear Wave Elastography through the Establishment of Baseline Data Using Phantoms. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2024; 24:4961. [PMID: 39124008 PMCID: PMC11314857 DOI: 10.3390/s24154961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Revised: 07/09/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Ultrasound elastography has been available on most modern systems; however, the implementation of quality processes tends to be ad hoc. It is essential for a medical physicist to benchmark elastography measurements on each system and track them over time, especially after major software upgrades or repairs. This study aims to establish baseline data using phantoms and monitor them for quality assurance in elastography. In this paper, we utilized two phantoms: a set of cylinders, each with a composite material with varying Young's moduli, and an anthropomorphic abdominal phantom containing a liver modeled to represent early-stage fibrosis. These phantoms were imaged using three ultrasound manufacturers' elastography functions with either point or 2D elastography. The abdominal phantom was also imaged using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) as it is recognized as the non-invasive gold standard for staging liver fibrosis. The scaling factor was determined based on the data acquired using MR and US elastography from the same vendor. The ultrasound elastography measurements showed inconsistency between different manufacturers, but within the same manufacturer, the measurements showed high repeatability. In conclusion, we have established baseline data for quality assurance procedures and specified the criteria for the acceptable range in liver fibrosis phantoms during routine testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Gallet
- Department of Radiology, Division of Medical Physics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; (Q.Y.); (A.A.)
| | | | - Qing Yuan
- Department of Radiology, Division of Medical Physics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; (Q.Y.); (A.A.)
| | - Areej Aljabal
- Department of Radiology, Division of Medical Physics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; (Q.Y.); (A.A.)
| | - Mi-Ae Park
- Department of Radiology, Division of Medical Physics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA; (Q.Y.); (A.A.)
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Haueise A, Le Sant G, Eisele-Metzger A, Dieterich AV. Is musculoskeletal pain associated with increased muscle stiffness? Evidence map and critical appraisal of muscle measurements using shear wave elastography. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 2024; 44:187-204. [PMID: 38155545 DOI: 10.1111/cpf.12870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Approximately 21% of the world's population suffers from musculoskeletal conditions, often associated with sensations of stiff muscles. Targeted therapy requires knowing whether typically involved muscles are objectively stiffer compared to asymptomatic individuals. Muscle stiffness is quantified using ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE). Publications on SWE-based comparisons of muscle stiffness between individuals with and without musculoskeletal pain are increasing rapidly. This work reviewed and mapped the existing evidence regarding objectively measured muscle stiffness in musculoskeletal pain conditions and surveyed current methods of applying SWE to measure muscle stiffness. METHODS A systematic search was conducted in PubMed and CINAHL using the keywords "muscle stiffness", "shear wave elastography", "pain", "asymptomatic controls" and synonyms. The search was supplemented by a hand search using Google Scholar. Included articles were critically appraised with the AXIS tool, supplemented by items related to SWE methods. Results were visually mapped and narratively described. RESULTS Thirty of 137 identified articles were included. High-quality evidence was missing. The results comprise studies reporting lower stiffness in symptomatic participants, no differences between groups and higher stiffness in symptomatic individuals. Results differed between pain conditions and muscles, and also between studies that examined the same muscle(s) and pathology. The methods of the application of SWE were inconsistent and the reporting was often incomplete. CONCLUSIONS Existing evidence regarding the objective stiffness of muscles in musculoskeletal pain conditions is conflicting. Methodological differences may explain most of the inconsistencies between findings. Methodological standards for SWE measurements of muscles are urgently required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Haueise
- Faculty of Health, Security, Society, Furtwangen University, Furtwangen, Germany
| | - Guillaume Le Sant
- CHU Nantes, Movement-Interactions-Performance, MIP, Nantes Université, Nantes, France
- School of Physiotherapy, IFM3R, St-Sebastien/Loire, France
| | - Angelika Eisele-Metzger
- Institute for Evidence in Medicine, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Cochrane Germany, Cochrane Germany Foundation, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Angela V Dieterich
- Faculty of Health, Security, Society, Furtwangen University, Furtwangen, Germany
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Zhu J, Qiu L, Ta D, Hua X, Liu H, Zhang H, Li J, Wang Y, Xi Z, Zheng Y, Shan Y, Liu B, Huang W, Liu W, Hao S, Cui L, Cai J, Zhang W, Zhang C, Chen S, Wei A, Dong F. Chinese Ultrasound Doctors Association Guideline on Operational Standards for 2-D Shear Wave Elastography Examination of Musculoskeletal Tissues. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2024; 50:175-183. [PMID: 37949764 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2023.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023]
Abstract
The Ultrasound Physician Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association sought to develop evidence-based recommendations on the operational standards for 2-D shear wave elastography examination of musculoskeletal tissues. A consensus panel of 22 Chinese musculoskeletal ultrasound experts reviewed current scientific evidence and proposed a set of 12 recommendations for 13 key issues, including instruments, operating methods, influencing factors and image interpretation. A final consensus was reached through discussion and voting. On the basis of research evidence and expert opinions, the strength of recommendation for each proposition was assessed using a visual analog scale, while further emphasizing the best available evidence during the question-and-answer session. These expert consensus guidelines encourage facilitation of the standardization of clinical practices for collecting and reporting shear wave elastography data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaan Zhu
- Department of Ultrasound, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
| | - Li Qiu
- Department of Medical Ultrasound, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
| | - Dean Ta
- Center for Biomedical Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xing Hua
- Department of Ultrasound, First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Hongmei Liu
- Department of Ultrasound, Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Huabin Zhang
- Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital Affiliated with Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Jia Li
- Department of Ultrasound, Southeast University Zhongda Hospital, Nanjing, China
| | - Yuexiang Wang
- Department of Ultrasound, First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Zhanguo Xi
- Department of Functional Examination, Henan Provincial Orthopedic Hospital Zhengzhou Campus, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yuanyi Zheng
- Department of Ultrasound, Shanghai Jiaotong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
| | - Yong Shan
- Department of Ultrasound, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Bingyan Liu
- Department of Ultrasound, Hainan General Hospital, Haikou, China
| | - Weijun Huang
- Department of Interventional Ultrasound, First People's Hospital of Foshan, Foshan, China
| | - Weiyong Liu
- Department of Ultrasound, First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Shaoyun Hao
- Department of Ultrasound, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ligang Cui
- Department of Ultrasound, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Jin Cai
- Department of Ultrasound, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University Affiliated Third Hospital, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Chao Zhang
- Department of Medical Ultrasound, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shuqiang Chen
- Department of Ultrasound, First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China
| | - An Wei
- Department of Ultrasound, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Fajin Dong
- Department of Ultrasound, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China
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Wang Y, Ono S, Johnson MP, Larson NB, Lynch T, Urban MW. Evaluating Variability of Commercial Liver Fibrosis Elastography Phantoms. ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE & BIOLOGY 2023; 49:1018-1030. [PMID: 36690519 DOI: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2022.12.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Liver fibrosis has been found to increase the mechanical stiffness of the liver. To mimic different stages of liver fibrosis, commercially available phantoms (Model 039, CIRS, Inc.) have been produced for clinical quality assurance and research purposes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanical property variability of the phantoms in two lots of CIRS Model 039 phantoms. METHODS Each lot consisted of phantoms of four stiffness types, and there were 8-10 phantoms of each type. Shear wave elastography measurements were conducted on each phantom at 10 different angles. Group velocity measurements and phase velocity curves were calculated for every SWE acquisition. Multilevel functional principal component analysis (MFPCA) was performed on phase velocity data, which decomposes each phase velocity curve into the sum of eigenfunctions of two levels. The variance of the component scores of levels 1 and 2 were used to represent inter-phantom and intra-phantom variability, respectively. The 95% confidence intervals of phase velocity in a phantom type were calculated to reflect curve variability. DISCUSSION The standard deviations of the group velocity for phantoms of any type were less than 0.04 and 0.02 m/s for lots 1 and 2, respectively. For both lots, in every type, the phase velocity curves of most individual phantoms fall within the 95% confidence interval. CONCLUSION MFPCA is an effective tool for analyzing the inter- and intra-phantom variability of phase velocity curves. Given the known variability of a fully tested lot, estimation of the variability of a new lot can be performed with a reduced number of phantoms tested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuqi Wang
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
| | | | - Matthew P Johnson
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Nicholas B Larson
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | | | - Matthew W Urban
- Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
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Palmeri ML, Milkowski A, Barr R, Carson P, Couade M, Chen J, Chen S, Dhyani M, Ehman R, Garra B, Gee A, Guenette G, Hah Z, Lynch T, Macdonald M, Managuli R, Miette V, Nightingale KR, Obuchowski N, Rouze NC, Morris DC, Fielding S, Deng Y, Chan D, Choudhury K, Yang S, Samir AE, Shamdasani V, Urban M, Wear K, Xie H, Ozturk A, Qiang B, Song P, McAleavey S, Rosenzweig S, Wang M, Okamura Y, McLaughlin G, Chen Y, Napolitano D, Carlson L, Erpelding T, Hall TJ. Radiological Society of North America/Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance Shear Wave Speed Bias Quantification in Elastic and Viscoelastic Phantoms. JOURNAL OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE : OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE 2021; 40:569-581. [PMID: 33410183 PMCID: PMC8082942 DOI: 10.1002/jum.15609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/29/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To quantify the bias of shear wave speed (SWS) measurements between different commercial ultrasonic shear elasticity systems and a magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) system in elastic and viscoelastic phantoms. METHODS Two elastic phantoms, representing healthy through fibrotic liver, were measured with 5 different ultrasound platforms, and 3 viscoelastic phantoms, representing healthy through fibrotic liver tissue, were measured with 12 different ultrasound platforms. Measurements were performed with different systems at different sites, at 3 focal depths, and with different appraisers. The SWS bias across the systems was quantified as a function of the system, site, focal depth, and appraiser. A single MRE research system was also used to characterize these phantoms using discrete frequencies from 60 to 500 Hz. RESULTS The SWS from different systems had mean difference 95% confidence intervals of ±0.145 m/s (±9.6%) across both elastic phantoms and ± 0.340 m/s (±15.3%) across the viscoelastic phantoms. The focal depth and appraiser were less significant sources of SWS variability than the system and site. Magnetic resonance elastography best matched the ultrasonic SWS in the viscoelastic phantoms using a 140 Hz source but had a - 0.27 ± 0.027-m/s (-12.2% ± 1.2%) bias when using the clinically implemented 60-Hz vibration source. CONCLUSIONS Shear wave speed reconstruction across different manufacturer systems is more consistent in elastic than viscoelastic phantoms, with a mean difference bias of < ±10% in all cases. Magnetic resonance elastographic measurements in the elastic and viscoelastic phantoms best match the ultrasound systems with a 140-Hz excitation but have a significant negative bias operating at 60 Hz. This study establishes a foundation for meaningful comparison of SWS measurements made with different platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Richard Barr
- The Surgical Hospital at Southwoods, Boardman, Ohio, USA
| | - Paul Carson
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Jun Chen
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | | | - Manish Dhyani
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | - Brian Garra
- US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
| | - Albert Gee
- Zonare Medical Systems, Mountain View, California, USA
| | - Gilles Guenette
- Toshiba Medical Research Institute, Redmond, Washington, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Ned C Rouze
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | | | - Yufeng Deng
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Derek Chan
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Siyun Yang
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | | | | | - Keith Wear
- US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
| | - Hua Xie
- Philips Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Arinc Ozturk
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Bo Qiang
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Yuling Chen
- Zonare Medical Systems, Mountain View, California, USA
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Alrashed AI, Alfuraih AM. Reproducibility of shear wave elastography among operators, machines, and probes in an elasticity phantom. Ultrasonography 2020; 40:158-166. [PMID: 32660213 PMCID: PMC7758105 DOI: 10.14366/usg.20011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE This study was aimed to investigate the reproducibility of shear wave elastography (SWE) among operators, machines, and probes in a phantom, and to evaluate the effect of depth of the embedded inclusions and the accuracy of the measurements. METHODS In vitro stiffness measurements were made of six inclusions (10, 40, and 60 kPa) embedded at two depths (1.5 cm and 5 cm) in an elastography phantom. Measurements were obtained by two sonographers using two ultrasound machines (the SuperSonic Imagine Aixplorer with the XC6-1, SL10-2 and SL18-5 probes, and the General Electric LOGIQ E9 with the 9L-D probe). Variability was evaluated using the coefficient of variation. Reproducibility was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). RESULTS For shallow inclusions, low variability was observed between operators (range, 0.9% to 5.4%). However, the variability increased significantly for deep inclusions (range, 2.4% to 80.8%). The measurement difference between the operators was 1%-15% for superficial inclusions and 3%-43% for deep inclusions. Inter-operator reproducibility was almost perfect (ICC>0.90). The measurement difference between machines was 0%-15% for superficial inclusions and 38.6%-82.9% for deep inclusions. For superficial inclusions, the reproducibility among the three probes was excellent (ICC>0.97). The mean stiffness values of the 10 kPa inclusion were overestimated by 16%, while those of the 40 kPa and 60 kPa inclusions were underestimated by 42% and 48%, respectively. CONCLUSION Phantom SWE measurements were only reproducible among operators, machines, and probes at superficial depths. SWE measurements acquired in deep regions should not be used interchangeably among operators, machines, or probes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulaziz Ibrahim Alrashed
- Radiodiagnostics and Medical Imaging Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulrahman M Alfuraih
- Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Kharj, Saudi Arabia
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