Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
The primary diagnostic tool for soft tissue, musculoskeletal ultrasound can also monitor joints, ligaments, cartilage and muscles.
Due to the wide range of sizes and anatomical relationships of musculoskeletal tissue, diagnostic musculoskeletal ultrasound is a dynamic tool for assessing muscles, cartilage, ligaments, and joints.
Musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK US) involves imaging soft tissues, elements structurally and functionally connected to them, and functional conflicts between them.
MSK US helps assess:
- Targeted Compression
- Vascular Supply
- Resilience or Elasticity of Fluid Reservoirs or Tissues, i.e. scar maturity
- Inflammation
- Metabolic activity
MSK US should dynamically assess passive and active movement to evaluate slide, rotation, tension, clicking, mobility range, and tissue/bone conflicts. The tissue assessment should include:
- Nature: diffuse or focal
- Borderlines: sharp or blurred
- Echogenicity: hypo, normal, or hyper relative to normal structures
- Structure: homogeneous or heterogeneous
- Size
- Ratio and distance to other anatomical structures, especially vessels and nerves
- Behavior
NMUS provides real-time neuromuscular visualization
- Dynamic visualization
- Ability to see moving tissue
- Ability to see vascular flow with Doppler imaging
- Protect target and surrounding soft tissue structures in diagnostic and therapeutic needle guidance procedures
- Enhance safety and accuracy in needle procedures
NMUS is a Safe, portable, and low-cost diagnostic imaging Technique
- No ionizing radiation
- Can be used with metallic implants
- No claustrophobia, as with other imaging modalities
- No restrictions or known adverse effects
- Instant feedback of results