MEASUREMENT OF TENDON EXCURSION VELOCITY WITH COLOR DOPPLER IMAGING -A PRELIMINARY-STUDY ON FLEXOR POLLICIS LONGUS MUSCLE

Purpose: To study the use of colour Doppler imaging (CDI) for the meas urement of maximum and mean tendon velocity, Recent studies showed tha t CDI, normally used for blood flow examinations, can be used for the imaging of tendons at the hand and wrist region. Although other modali ties are available for imaging of the musculo-skeletal system, in vivo measurements of the velocity of tendon excursion are not possible. Me thods: The flexor pollicis longus (FPL) tendon of 16 healthy volunteer s was measured bilaterally at two levels (wrist and thenar), A sprint from the fingers along the proximal lower arm was applied, The thumb w as fixed to the splint from the first phalanx to allow flexion of the interphalangeal (IP) joint only, Pulsed CDI was used for the measureme nts, The maximum and mean velocities of the FPL tendon were measured a t spectrum display mode during continuous voluntary contractions, At l east 10 sequential Doppler peaks (cm/s) were recorded at every trial, The measurements were repeated three times. Paired t-test and correlat ion coefficients were calculated between levels on the same side and t he opposite side. Results: No significant differences were found betwe en two levels of the same hand and of the opposite hand. As expected, the data revealed variations in the inter-individual tendon velocities , Conclusions: The velocity of the excursion of the FPL tendon can be measured with CDI with good reproducibility. It is expected that veloc ity measurements can be used in the future for the assessment of other tendons affected by various disorders.