Multi-Sensing Techniques with Ultrasound for Musculoskeletal Assessment: A Review

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging and Signal Processing

Background:

• Muscle-tendon unit (MTU) contractions are vital for medical diagnostics, rehabilitation, and prosthetic control.
• Quantifying muscle condition through neuromuscular electrical activation, force, and vibration has advanced using combined techniques.
• Ultrasound imaging, coupled with other methods, offers a powerful approach to characterize biological signals related to muscle function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and guide readers to relevant research on combined ultrasound imaging techniques for biological signal characterization.
• To categorize applications of multi-sensing systems in health into human-machine interfaces and physiological studies.
• To discuss the significance, challenges, and future directions in this field.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies employing ultrasound imaging in conjunction with other sensing technologies.
• Categorization of research into human-machine interface (HMI) applications (e.g., prosthetic control) and physiological studies (e.g., clinical diagnosis).
• Analysis of multi-sensing systems for quantifying muscle condition, neuromuscular electrical activation, force, and vibration.

Main Results:

• Identified two primary categories of applications: HMI for advanced prosthetics/robotics and physiological studies for diagnostics/research.
• Highlighted the growing trend of integrating ultrasound with other sensors to capture comprehensive muscle-related biological signals.
• Demonstrated the utility of these combined approaches in understanding muscle behavior for various health-related purposes.

Conclusions:

• Combined ultrasound imaging and multi-sensing systems offer significant potential for advancing medical diagnostics, rehabilitation, and prosthetic control.
• Further research is needed to address current challenges and fully realize the future expectations for these integrated technologies.
• The reviewed works underscore the critical role of characterizing muscle contractions for improved human-machine interaction and physiological understanding.