Ultrasound elastography evaluation of age-related muscle atrophy: An ex vivo study

In this work, the feasibility of ultrasound elastography to evaluate age-related muscle atrophy is investigated. Ultrasound elastography is used to assess muscle stiffness alterations of bovine shoulder samples during aging treatment. Of particular interest is to investigate the decrease in muscle stiffness due to two potential reasons: (1) decrease in collagen fibers; and (2) mechanical breakdown of the muscle fascia (the soft tissue component of connective tissue surrounding muscle). Two methods of aging treatments are employed: (1) chemical treatment, and (2) percussion treatment. Areas of the bovine shoulder samples studied were the triceps brachii and infraspinatus. The chemically treated bovine samples demonstrated significant alterations in muscle stiffness under ultrasound in comparison to percussive treatment. The significance of these results will be discussed.