Open-sourced semi-automatic program for ultrasound assessments of femoral trochlea cartilage health

Abstract

We developed an open-sourced program that accounts for the current limitations of B-mode ultrasound and extends the clinical utility of ultrasound for assessing femoral trochlear cartilage thickness. Images were collected on 18 patients with a history of knee surgery. By failing to account for ultrasound acoustics and beam refraction, cartilage thickness was underestimated by 26% and overestimated by 0–4%, respectively (p < 0.001). Comprehensive thickness measurements achieved by measuring the Euclidean distance between every point were significantly different than traditional single-location measurements or by using the area/length (p = 0.004–0.006). Sub-regions were significantly different than all whole regions of interest (p = 0.001–0.012).

Keywords:

• Osteoarthritis
• anterior cruciate ligament
• ACL

Authors’ contributions

All authors have read and approved the final submitted manuscript. Credit for authorship was based on: (1) the conception and design of the study, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (3) final approval of the version to be submitted.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported here was partially supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01HD093626 (to Prof. Riann Palmieri-Smith).