The Applicability of Muscle Ultrasonography in Physiotherapy Researches

Abstract

Within the last century, many medical approaches have been invented and widely upgraded in the field of medical sciences. Ultrasonography is a non-invasive method in medical diagnosis which has several applications in musculoskeletal evaluation. Each ultrasonography picture is a very thin tomographic slice of the anatomy being examined. With ultrasonography an examiner is able to measure the cross-sectional area, and linear dimensions such as the anterioposterior dimension (APD) and lateral dimension (LD) of the muscle. It is also possible to calculate the multiplied linear dimension by the equation APD times LD and the shape ratio by the equation LD/APD. In biophysiological measurement ultrasonography is a digital measurement device with a high accuracy for identifying small structures. In the field of muscle research, compared to muscle strength test and surface electromyography, ultrasonography can easily screen and evaluate the individual muscle contraction even in the deep layers. During ultrasonography the muscle image is continously updated. Therefore, the method may be useful in physiotherapy of weak muscles by means of visual feedback.