Correspondence of high-frequency ultrasound and histomorphometry of healing rabbit Achilles tendon tissue

The objective of the paper is to explore the examination value of high-frequency ultrasonography in the postoperative rehabilitation treatment of Achilles tendon injury occurred during sports events. The high-frequency ultrasound imaging technique was applied to examine the Achilles tendon injuries of patients. After the patients accepted Achilles tendon rupture repair surgeries, ultrasound imaging was applied to detect the rehabilitation conditions during the recovery processes. The diagnosis was mainly performed through the Achilles tendon sonograms examined 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks after the surgeries respectively; in addition, the changes in the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Score (AOFAS) and the elasticity modulus of repaired Achilles tendons were observed 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 48 weeks after the surgeries respectively. The results showed that the Achilles tendon was significantly improved after the postoperative rehabilitation, and the average AOFAS score was positively correlated with the elasticity modulus of the repaired Achilles tendon. In addition, the research results also indicated that the high-frequency ultrasound technology could accurately observe the thickness, area, and internal echo of the Achilles tendons of patients dynamically in real-time, which was convenient and quick. After the patient had undergone rehabilitation training, high-frequency ultrasound could be used to detect the postoperative rehabilitation conditions of patients, thereby the real-time rehabilitation conditions of the patients would be obtained.

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Analysis of Collagen Organization in Mouse Achilles Tendon Using High-Frequency Ultrasound Imaging

Journal of Biomechanical Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.4026285 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 136 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Corinne N. Riggin ◽

Joseph J. Sarver ◽

Benjamin R. Freedman ◽

Stephen J. Thomas ◽

Louis J. Soslowsky

Keyword(s):

Achilles Tendon ◽

Ultrasound Imaging ◽

High Frequency ◽

Tendon Healing ◽

Tendon Injury ◽

High Frequency Ultrasound ◽

Collagen Organization ◽

Collagen Alignment ◽

Frequency Ultrasound

Achilles tendon ruptures are traumatic injuries, and techniques for assessing repair outcomes rely on patient-based measures of pain and function, which do not directly assess tendon healing. Consequently, there is a need for a quantitative, in vivo measure of tendon properties. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to validate ultrasound imaging for evaluating collagen organization in tendons. In this study, we compared our novel, high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) imaging and analysis method to a standard measure of collagen organization, crossed polarizer (CP) imaging. Eighteen mouse Achilles tendons were harvested and placed into a testing fixture where HFUS and CP imaging could be performed simultaneously in a controlled loading environment. Two experiments were conducted: (1) effect of loading on collagen alignment and (2) effect of an excisional injury on collagen alignment. As expected, it was found that both the HFUS and CP methods could reliably detect an increase in alignment with increasing load, as well as a decrease in alignment with injury. This HFUS method demonstrates that structural measures of collagen organization in tendon can be determined through ultrasound imaging. This experiment also provides a mechanistic evaluation of tissue structure that could potentially be used to develop a targeted approach to aid in rehabilitation or monitor return to activity after tendon injury.

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