Abstract
In this organized session entitled "Usefulness of muscle hardness measurements using ultrasound elastography", we will demonstrate how to visualize the muscle hardness (shear elastic modulus) measured by ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) technique. The previous studies have reported that muscle hardness measured by SWE could provide an accurate estimation of individual muscle force and muscle activity level. In addition, in this study, we ingestigated the validity of muscle hardness measured by SWE imaging technique during passive muscle stretching in vivo, and a significant correlation was found betwen muscle hardness and muscle elongation. Therefore, the muscle hardness measured by SWE could be used to accurately estimate the stretching level. Moreover, we investigated the effect of static stretching on muscle hardness of medial gastrocnemius muscle and hamstrings muscle, and showed that the muscle hardness decreased significantly after static stretching. Therefore, muscle hardness measurement using the SWE technique was useful in determining the effects of static stretching.
