ArticleJournal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine2012
Office-based elastographic technique for quantifying mechanical properties of skeletal muscle.
Article in Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effect of Dry Needling on Muscle Stiffness, Gait, Motion, and Strength in Healthy Individuals With Latent Trigger Points
Effectiveness of the Application of Radial Pressure Waves Together With a Manual Therapy Protocol and Therapeutic Exercise in the Treatment of Non-Specific Neck Pain: a Randomized Clinical Trial
Multimodal Imaging Biomarkers for Investigating Fascia, Muscle and Vasculature in Myofascial Pain
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Deep Versus Superficial Dry Needling for Neck Pain: A Systematic Review of Randomised Clinical Trials.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Characterizing Musculoskeletal Tissue Mechanics Based on Shear Wave Propagation: A Systematic Review of Current Methods and Reported Measurements.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2022Pooled it
- Assessment of Myofascial Trigger Points via Imaging: A Systematic Review.American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation · 2021Pooled it
- Systematic review of quantitative imaging biomarkers for neck and shoulder musculoskeletal disorders.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2017Pooled it
- Combination of Manual Therapy and Dry Needling Effectively Improves Acute Neck Pain and Muscular Tone and Stiffness in Combat Sports Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2024Trial
- Acute Effects of the Dry Needling Session on Gastrocnemius Muscle Biomechanical Properties, and Perfusion with Latent Trigger Points - A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial in Mixed Martial Arts Athletes.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2024Trial
- Novel Use of Ultrasound Elastography to Quantify Muscle Tissue Changes After Dry Needling of Myofascial Trigger Points in Patients With Chronic Myofascial Pain.Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine · 2015Trial
- Elastographic Changes in Cervical Muscle Following Combined Radial Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy and Orthopedic Manual Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The protective model of myofascial trigger points: a testable systems-level framework based on strain-repair mismatch.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Ultrasound elastography to guide compression therapy for gastrocnemius trigger points in runners.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring fascia in myofascial pain syndrome: an integrative model of mechanisms.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Reliability of muscle stiffness measures in popliteus, medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles by ultrasound shear wave elastography in participants with knee osteoarthritis accompanied by myofascial trigger points.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Assessment of the Performance of Ultrasonography for Detecting Myofascial Trigger Points.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Upper trapezius muscle elasticity in cervical myofascial pain syndrome measured using real-time ultrasound shear-wave elastography.Quantitative imaging in medicine and surgery · 2023Article
- Viscoelasticity in trapezius myofascial pain syndrome: quantitative assessment using Real-Time Shear-Wave Elastography.Annals of medicine · 2023Article
- Trigger Point Injections.Physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics of North America · 2022Review
- Quantitative Shear Wave Speed Assessment for Muscles With the Diagnosis of Taut Bands and/or Myofascial Trigger Points Using Probe Oscillation Shear Wave Elastography: A Pilot Study.Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine · 2022Article
- A comparison of visual analog scale and shear-wave ultrasound elastography data in fibromyalgia patients and the normal population.Journal of physical therapy science · 2021Article
- Application of the novel estimation method by shear wave elastography using vibrator to human skeletal muscle.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Feasibility of Ultrasound-Guided Trigger Point Injection in Patients with Myofascial Pain Syndrome.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesOur objectives were to develop a new, efficient, and easy-to-administer approach to ultrasound elastography and assess its ability to provide quantitative characterization of viscoelastic properties of skeletal muscle in an outpatient clinical environment. We sought to show its validity and clinical utility in assessing myofascial trigger points, which are associated with myofascial pain syndrome.
methodsUltrasound imaging was performed while the muscle was externally vibrated at frequencies in the range of 60 to 200 Hz using a handheld vibrator. The spatial gradient of the vibration phase yielded the shear wave speed, which is related to the viscoelastic properties of tissue. The method was validated using a calibrated experimental phantom, the biceps brachii muscle in healthy volunteers (n = 6), and the upper trapezius muscle in symptomatic patients with axial neck pain (n = 13) and asymptomatic (pain-free) control participants (n = 9).
resultsUsing the experimental phantom, our method was able to quantitatively measure the shear moduli with error rates of less than 20%. The mean shear modulus ± SD in the normal biceps brachii measured 12.5 ± 3.4 kPa, within the range of published values using more sophisticated methods. Shear wave speeds in active myofascial trigger points and the surrounding muscle tissue were significantly higher than those in normal tissue at high frequency excitations (>100 Hz; P < .05).
conclusionsOff-the-shelf office-based equipment can be used to quantitatively characterize skeletal muscle viscoelastic properties with estimates comparable to those using more sophisticated methods. Our preliminary results using this method indicate that patients with spontaneous neck pain and symptomatic myofascial trigger points have increased tissue heterogeneity at the trigger point site and the surrounding muscle tissue.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.