Shear Wave Elastography in Bruxism-Not Yet Ready for Clinical Routine

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Musculoskeletal Disorders

Background:

• Bruxism affects nearly one-third of adults and may increase masticatory muscle stiffness.
• Ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) is an emerging technique for assessing tissue stiffness.
• The utility of SWE in evaluating bruxism-related muscle changes remains unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the feasibility and diagnostic potential of SWE in patients with bruxism.
• To compare SWE measurements of masseter muscles between bruxism patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

• A proof-of-principle study involving 10 patients with bruxism and 10 age/gender-matched controls.
• SWE measurements of masseter muscles were taken under three conditions: relaxed jaw, 50% maximal bite force, and maximal jaw opening.
• Statistical analysis was performed to compare SWE values between groups.

Main Results:

• Significantly increased SWE was observed in the masseter muscles of bruxism patients during jaw relaxation (1.92 m/s vs. 1.66 m/s).
• During maximal mouth opening, SWE was lower in bruxism patients (2.89 m/s vs. 3.53 m/s), potentially due to limited jaw mobility.
• SWE values at maximal bite force also showed a trend towards lower stiffness in bruxism patients (4.46 m/s vs. 5.23 m/s).

Conclusions:

• SWE is a feasible technique for assessing masticatory muscle stiffness in bruxism.
• SWE may serve as a potential diagnostic and monitoring tool for bruxism.
• Further research with methodological considerations is needed to validate these findings.