Shear wave elastography imaging in a porcine tendinopathy model

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Musculoskeletal Research
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Tendinopathy involves structural damage and altered tissue properties.
• Accurate assessment of tendinopathic tissue integrity is crucial for treatment.
• Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a non-invasive ultrasound technique to measure tissue elasticity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the impact of induced structural damage on ex vivo tendon elasticity using SWE.
• To establish a correlation between collagenase-induced tendinopathy and SWE measurements.
• To explore the potential of SWE in predicting tissue strength in tendinopathic models.

Main Methods:

• Porcine flexor tendons were subjected to collagenase injection to model tendinopathy or saline injection as control.
• Tendons were incubated for 3.5 or 7 hours at 37°C.
• Mechanical strain (0% and 1%) was applied, and SWE was performed at multiple locations relative to the injection site.

Main Results:

• Significant decreases in shear wave speed (SWS), indicating reduced elasticity, were observed in collagenase-treated tendons compared to controls.
• These differences were most pronounced at 1% strain and after 7-hour incubation across all measured locations.
• Significant differences were also noted at 0% strain and 7-hour incubation at specific sites, but not at 3.5-hour incubation.

Conclusions:

• Collagenase-induced structural damage in ex vivo tendons results in decreased elasticity measurable by SWE after prolonged incubation.
• SWE shows promise as a tool for assessing tendinopathic tissue properties and potentially predicting ultimate tissue strength.
• Future studies involving pull-to-failure testing are recommended to validate the predictive capability of SWE for tendon rupture strength.