Evaluation of Stiffness of the Spastic Lower Extremity Muscles in Early Spinal Cord Injury by Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging

This study uses a new imaging technique called Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) to measure the stiffness of muscles in the legs of people with recent spinal cord injuries. The researchers wanted to see if there was a difference in muscle stiffness between people with spinal cord injuries who have muscle spasms (spasticity) and those who don't. They also looked at whether the muscle stiffness measurements were related to how severe the muscle spasms were.

• 1
  Patients with spasticity had significantly faster shear wave velocities (SWV) in their gastrocnemius and biceps femoris muscles compared to those without spasticity and healthy controls.
• 2
  The SWV values of the gastrocnemius muscle correlated with the severity of ankle spasticity.
• 3
  The SWV values of the biceps femoris muscle correlated with the severity of knee spasticity.