ArticleJournal of orthopaedic surgery and research2019
Ultrasonic cartilage thickness measurement is accurate, reproducible, and reliable-validation study using contrast-enhanced micro-CT.
Article in Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterization of the Ideal Speed of Sound for Plantar Soft Tissue Using Quasi-Simultaneous Ultrasound and Computed Tomography in Cadaveric Feet.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Optimization of High-Frequency Ultrasound Imaging to Detect Incremental Changes in Mineral Content at the Cartilage-Bone Interface Ex Vivo.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Optimization of In Situ Indentation Protocol to Map the Mechanical Properties of Articular Cartilage.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Articular surface integrity assessed by ultrasound is associated with biological characteristics of articular cartilage in early-stage degeneration.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Validation of ultrasonography for measurement of cartilage thickness in the equine carpus.Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association · 2022Article
- Acetabular Cartilage Thickness Differs Among Cam, Pincer, or Mixed-Type Femoroacetabular Impingement: A Descriptive Study UsingCartilage · 2021Article
- Article
- 3D High-Frequency Ultrasound Imaging of Cartilage-Bone Interface Compared with Micro-CT.BioMed research international · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUltrasonography is a fast and patient-friendly modality to assess cartilage thickness. However, inconsistent results regarding accuracy have been reported. Therefore, we asked what are (1) the accuracy, (2) reproducibility, and (3) reliability of ultrasonographic cartilage thickness measurement using contrast-enhanced micro-CT for validation?
methodsA series of 50 cartilage-bone plugs were harvested from fresh bovine and porcine joints. Ultrasonic cartilage thickness was determined using an A-mode, 20-MHz hand-held ultrasonic probe with native (1580 m/s) and adjusted speed of sound (1696 m/s). All measurements were performed by two observers at two different occasions. Angle of insonation was controlled by tilting the device and recording minimal thickness. Retrieval of exact location for measurement was facilitated by aligning the circular design of both cartilage-bone plug and ultrasonic device. There was no soft tissue interference between cartilage surface and ultrasonic probe. Ground truth measurement was performed using micro-CT with iodine contrast agent and a voxel size of 16 μm. The mean cartilage thickness was 1.383 ± 0.402 mm (range, 0.588-2.460 mm).
resultsMean accuracy was 0.074 ± 0.061 mm (0.002-0.256 mm) for native and 0.093 ± 0.098 mm (0.000-0.401 mm) for adjusted speed of sound. Bland-Altman analysis showed no systematic error. High correlation was found for native and adjusted speed of sound with contrast-enhanced micro-CT (both r = 0.973; p < 0.001). A perfect agreement for reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] 0.992 and 0.994) and reliability (ICC 0.993, 95% confidence interval 0.990-0.995) was found.
conclusionsUltrasonic cartilage thickness measurement could be shown to be highly accurate, reliable, and reproducible. The A-mode ultrasonic cartilage thickness measurement is a fast and patient-friendly modality which can detect early joint degeneration and facilitate decision making in joint preserving surgery.
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