Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 27, 2025
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Efficacy of Quantitative Muscle Ultrasound Using Texture-Feature Parametric Imaging in Detecting Pompe Disease in
Hong-Jen Chiou1,2,3, Chih-Kuang Yeh4, Hsuen-En Hwang5
1Division of Ultrasound and Breast Imaging, Department of Radiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan.
Insights
Texture-feature parametric imaging accurately distinguishes neuropathic muscles in children with Pompe disease. This method uses ultrasound to identify muscle abnormalities, aiding in early diagnosis and management of this rare genetic disorder.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Neuromuscular Disorders
- Pediatric Medicine
Background:
- Pompe disease is a rare, inherited neuromuscular disorder caused by acid α-glucosidase deficiency.
- Accurate and early identification of Pompe disease is crucial for effective management and improved patient outcomes.
- Distinguishing neuropathic from normal muscles in affected children is essential for diagnosis and treatment planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a texture-feature parametric imaging method for discriminating normal from neuropathic muscles in children with Pompe disease.
- To assess the efficacy of ultrasound-based texture analysis in identifying muscle pathology associated with Pompe disease.
- To differentiate between infantile-onset and late-onset Pompe disease using specific texture features.
Main Methods:
- Inclusion of 22 children with Pompe disease and 6 healthy children.
- Acquisition of transverse ultrasound images of rectus femoris and sartorius muscles.
- Application of Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM)-based Haralick's features (autocorrelation, contrast, energy, entropy, maximum probability, variance, cluster prominence) for parametric imaging.
- Utilized stepwise regression for feature selection and Fisher linear discriminant analysis for classification.
Main Results:
- Optimal feature sets identified for rectus femoris (variance, cluster prominence) and sartorius muscles (energy, variance, cluster prominence).
- Combined feature sets achieved high diagnostic performance: 94.6% accuracy, 100% specificity, 93.2% sensitivity, and an AUC of 0.98 ± 0.02.
- Specific texture features (cluster prominence for rectus femoris; autocorrelation, entropy, maximum probability, variance for sartorius) showed significant differences between infantile-onset and late-onset Pompe disease groups (p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
- Texture-feature parametric imaging is a valuable, non-invasive tool for quantifying skeletal muscle tissue structure in children and newborns.
- This method effectively distinguishes pathological muscles in Pompe disease from normal muscles, supporting diagnostic capabilities.
- The technique shows potential for differentiating disease onset types, aiding in personalized treatment strategies for Pompe disease.
Abstract:
Pompe disease is a hereditary neuromuscular disorder attributed to acid α-glucosidase deficiency, and accurately identifying this disease is essential. Our aim was to discriminate normal muscles from neuropathic muscles in children affected by Pompe disease using a texture-feature parametric imaging method that simultaneously considers microstructure and macrostructure. The study included 22 children aged 0.02-54 months with Pompe disease and six healthy children aged 2-12 months with normal muscles. For each subject, transverse ultrasound images of the bilateral rectus femoris and sartorius muscles were obtained. Gray-level co-occurrence matrix-based Haralick's features were used for constructing parametric images and identifying neuropathic muscles: autocorrelation (AUT), contrast, energy (ENE), entropy (ENT), maximum probability (MAXP), variance (VAR), and cluster prominence (CPR). Stepwise regression was used in feature selection. The Fisher linear discriminant analysis was used for combination of the selected features to distinguish between normal and pathological muscles. The VAR and CPR were the optimal feature set for classifying normal and pathological rectus femoris muscles, whereas the ENE, VAR, and CPR were the optimal feature set for distinguishing between normal and pathological sartorius muscles. The two feature sets were combined to discriminate between children with and without neuropathic muscles affected by Pompe disease, achieving an accuracy of 94.6%, a specificity of 100%, a sensitivity of 93.2%, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.98 ± 0.02. The CPR for the rectus femoris muscles and the AUT, ENT, MAXP, and VAR for the sartorius muscles exhibited statistically significant differences in distinguishing between the infantile-onset Pompe disease and late-onset Pompe disease groups (p < 0.05). Texture-feature parametric imaging can be used to quantify and map tissue structures in skeletal muscles and distinguish between pathological and normal muscles in children or newborns.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:17Ultrasonography
During an ultrasonography procedure, a handheld device called...
01:25Ultrasound II: Endoscopic Ultrasound and FibroScan
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS):