A Simplified Method for Considering Achilles Tendon Curvature in the Assessment of Tendon Elongation

The consideration of the Achilles tendon (AT) curvature is crucial for the precise determination of AT length and strain. We previously established an ultrasound-kinematic-based method to quantify the curvature, using a line of reflective foil skin markers covering the AT from origin to insertion. T...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mohamadreza Kharazi, Christos Theodorakis, Falk Mersmann, Adamantios Arampatzis, Sebastian Bohm
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/acb075ef13364e1f87ee0089e3cce537
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:The consideration of the Achilles tendon (AT) curvature is crucial for the precise determination of AT length and strain. We previously established an ultrasound-kinematic-based method to quantify the curvature, using a line of reflective foil skin markers covering the AT from origin to insertion. The current study aimed to simplify the method by reducing the number of markers while maintaining high accuracy. Eleven participants walked (1.4 m/s) and ran (2.5, 3.5 m/s) on a treadmill, and the AT curvature was quantified using reflective foil markers aligned with the AT between the origin on the gastrocnemius myotendinous-junction (tracked by ultrasound) and a marker on the calcaneal insertion. Foil markers were then systematically removed, and the introduced error on the assessment of AT length and strain was calculated. We found a significant main effect of marker number on the measurement error of AT length and strain (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>p</mi><mo><</mo><mn>0.001</mn></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>). Using more than 30% of the full marker-set for walking and 50% for running, the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msup><mi>R</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></semantics></math></inline-formula> of the AT length error saturated, corresponding to average errors of <0.1 mm and <0.15% strain. Therefore, a substantially reduced marker-set, associated with a marginal error, can be recommended for considering the AT curvature in the determination of AT length and strain.