2019 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 25-31
The relative increase of non-contraction tissue within skeletal muscle, such as the increase of adipose and fibrous tissue, is known to the loss of muscle quality. Quantitative muscle quality in ultrasound images assessed from muscle echo intensity (EI), are calculated by means of 8-bit gray scale. Recent previous report has showed that the extracellular water to intracellular water ratio measured by using segmental bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS) can also assess muscle quality. Ultrasound imaging and segmental BIS method are non-invasive and convenient tools for assessing muscle quality, and therefore are expected to be useful for establishing methods of muscle quality assessment in clinical setting. We have applied skeletal muscle quality assessment in older adult and osteoarthritis patients, and have carried out several studies. The present paper focuses on the introduction of the basic concept of muscle quality assessment, and clinical applications based on the result of our previous studies.
