ArticlePloS one2020
Shear-wave elastography for assessment of trapezius muscle stiffness: Reliability and association with low-level muscle activity.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04758065 (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), which is not on this map. Cited by 22 papers.
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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.
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
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of muscle fatigue on exercise-induced hamstring muscle damage: a three-armed randomized controlled trial.European journal of applied physiology · 2023Trial
- Shear Wave Elastography in Children: Normative Values and the Impact of Healthy Habits in a Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Shear-wave ultrasound elastography for tissue-specific quantification of radiation-induced cervical fibrosis.Physics and imaging in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Reliability of quadriceps and hamstring muscle stiffness measured by ultrasound shear wave elastography in patients with knee osteoarthritis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Article
- Differences in Pressure Pain Threshold and Strain Elastography Between Women with and Without Fibromyalgia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Development and validation of a semi-automated algorithm to analyze shear wave elastography clips in muscle tissue.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Pelvic Asymmetry and Stiffness of the Muscles Stabilizing the Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip Complex (LPHC) in Tensiomyography Examination.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Yoga training enhances elastic biomechanics of trapezius and hamstrings: a quantitative SWE assessment.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Ultrasound elastography of back muscle biomechanical properties: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current methods.Insights into imaging · 2024Review
- Levator Scapulae Stiffness Measurement Reliability in Individuals with and without Chronic Neck Pain by Experienced and Novel Examiners.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Age and sex-related differences in elastic properties of the gastrocnemius muscle-tendon unit: an observational prospective study.Frontiers in aging · 2024Article
- Intramuscular stiffness distribution in anterior and posterior upper trapezius muscles in healthy young males.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Association between elasticity of tissue and pain pressure threshold in the tender points present in subjects with fibromyalgia: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2023Observational
- Body Composition and Demographic Features Do Not Affect the Diagnostic Accuracy of Shear Wave Elastography.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Which muscles exhibit increased stiffness in people with chronic neck pain? A systematic review with meta-analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Review
- Specification of Neck Muscle Dysfunction through Digital Image Analysis Using Machine Learning.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Do Psychological Factors Influence the Elastic Properties of Soft Tissue in Subjects with Fibromyalgia? A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Biomedicines · 2022Article
- Article
- Effects of cervicothoracic postures on the stiffness of trapezius muscles.Medical & biological engineering & computing · 2022Article
- Negligible epimuscular myofascial force transmission between the human rectus femoris and vastus lateralis muscles in passive conditions.European journal of applied physiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeShear-wave elastography has been recognized a useful tool for quantifying muscle stiffness, commonly reported as shear modulus, however the reports on reliability are often limited to test-retest correlations. In this study, we explored the reliability of shear-wave elastography for assessment of the trapezius muscle stiffness and its relationship with low-level muscle activity.
methodsTwenty participants were included in a two-session experiment. Measurements of shear modulus and muscle activity were performed at rest and during low-level activity, induced by shoulder abduction without additional external resistance.
resultsGood to excellent intra-session repeatability (ICC > 0.80) and moderate inter-rater and inter-session reproducibility (ICC = 0.66-0.74) were observed. Typical errors were acceptable (7.6% of the mean value) only for intra-session measurements in resting conditions, but not acceptable for all conditions with low-level muscle activity (10.2-16.6% of the mean value). Inverse relationships between shear modulus and muscle activity at 40° and 60° of shoulder abduction (r = -0.53 and -0.57) were observed on a group level. We also found higher shear modulus in males compared to females, for the parallel probe position compared to the perpendicular position (in relation to muscle fiber orientation), and for the dominant side of the body compared to the non-dominant side.
conclusionsThis study showed an inverse relationship between muscle activity in low-level range and shear modulus on a group level, suggesting inherent passive stiffness could account for a larger portion of the variance (compared to muscle activity) in shear modulus when the muscle activity is low. Our results imply that shear-wave elastography can be used in research exploring muscle stiffness, however, caution is needed since only intra-session examination in resting conditions showed acceptable within-participant typical errors. The secondary analyses of the study showed higher shear modulus for males, for the non-dominant side of the body and for the parallel orientation of the ultrasound probe.
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