A novel ultrasound technique for detection of osteochondral defects in the ankle joint: A parametric and feasibility study

A novel ultrasound technique for detection of osteochondral defects in the ankle joint: A parametric and feasibility study

Sarkalkan, N.
Loeve, A.J.
Van Dongen, K.W.A.
Tuijthof, G.J.M.
Zadpoor, A.A.

Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering

Biomechanical Engineering

2015-12-24

(Osteo)chondral defects (OCDs) in the ankle are currently diagnosed with modalities that are not convenient to use in long-term follow-ups. Ultrasound (US) imaging, which is a cost-effective and non-invasive alternative, has limited ability to discriminate OCDs. We aim to develop a new diagnostic technique based on US wave propagation through the ankle joint. The presence of OCDs is identified when a US signal deviates from a reference signal associated with the healthy joint. The feasibility of the proposed technique is studied using experimentally-validated 2D finite-difference time-domain models of the ankle joint. The normalized maximum cross correlation of experiments and simulation was 0.97. Effects of variables relevant to the ankle joint, US transducers and OCDs were evaluated. Variations in joint space width and transducer orientation made noticeable alterations to the reference signal: normalized root mean square error ranged from 6.29% to 65.25% and from 19.59% to 8064.2%, respectively. The results suggest that the new technique could be used for detection of OCDs, if the effects of other parameters (i.e., parameters related to the ankle joint and US transducers) can be reduced.

diagnosis
(osteo)chondral defect
ankle joint
joint space
ultrasound propagation
2D finite-difference time-domain model
OA-Fund TU Delft

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:283edffc-dac7-45a9-a83b-92b5f7dcc6c8

https://doi.org/10.3390/s150100148

MDPI

1424-8220

Sensors, 15 (1), 2015

Institutional Repository

journal article

(c) 2015 The Author(s)
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).