Inter-Instrument Agreement of Three Ultrasound Systems in Measuring the Cross-Sectional Area of the Geniohyoid Muscle

Measurement of swallowing muscle mass is important in determining sarcopenic dysphagia. Ultrasound equipment can measure the cross-sectional area of the swallowing muscles, but the inter-instrument reliability is unknown. In this study, the inter-instrument reliability was investigated.

Three ultrasound devices were used to measure the geniohyoid muscle in 16 healthy participants, and their reliability was evaluated. The LogiQeV2, which has already been used to calculate cut-off values for the muscle mass of the geniohyoid muscle, was used as the key device. The reliability of the Sonosite iViz and the TUP-C035J for LogiQeV2 was analysed, respectively. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots were used for the analysis.

The ICC between LogiQeV2 and Sonosite iViz was 0.976. One data point deviated from the Limit of agreement. The ICC between LogiQeV2 and TUP-C035J was 0.979. Ninety-four per cent of the data fell within the limit of agreement. From the result of the ICC and Bland-Altman plot, errors were judged to be within the acceptable range for practical purposes.

The inter-instrument reliability of three ultrasound systems for cross-sectional area of geniohyoid muscle was confirmed. In the clinical setting, ultrasound systems can be widely used to measure the swallowing muscle mass.

What is already known on this subject Ultrasonography can be used to measure the area of the geniohyoid muscle that plays an important role in swallowing. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge The inter-instrument reliability of different ultrasound systems for the cross-sectional area of geniohyoid muscle was revealed. What are the potential or actual clinical implications for this work? Ultrasound systems can be used to measure the mass of swallowing muscle in a wide range of clinical settings.