Ultrasonic cartilage thickness measurement is accurate, reproducible, and reliable-validation study using contrast-enhanced micro-CT.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Ultrasonography is a fast and patient-friendly modality to assess cartilage thickness. However, inconsistent results regarding accuracy have been reported. Therefore, we asked what are (1) the accuracy, (2) reproducibility, and (3) reliability of ultrasonographic cartilage thickness measurement using contrast-enhanced micro-CT for validation? METHODS:A series of 50 cartilage-bone plugs were harvested from fresh bovine and porcine joints. Ultrasonic cartilage thickness was determined using an A-mode, 20-MHz hand-held ultrasonic probe with native (1580?m/s) and adjusted speed of sound (1696?m/s). All measurements were performed by two observers at two different occasions. Angle of insonation was controlled by tilting the device and recording minimal thickness. Retrieval of exact location for measurement was facilitated by aligning the circular design of both cartilage-bone plug and ultrasonic device. There was no soft tissue interference between cartilage surface and ultrasonic probe. Ground truth measurement was performed using micro-CT with iodine contrast agent and a voxel size of 16??m. The mean cartilage thickness was 1.383?±?0.402?mm (range, 0.588-2.460?mm). RESULTS:Mean accuracy was 0.074?±?0.061?mm (0.002-0.256?mm) for native and 0.093?±?0.098?mm (0.000-0.401?mm) for adjusted speed of sound. Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic error. High correlation was found for native and adjusted speed of sound with contrast-enhanced micro-CT (both r?=?0.973; p?
SUBMITTER: Steppacher SD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6391750 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
ACCESS DATA