Brain elastography in aging relates to fluid/solid trendlines.

The relatively new tools of brain elastography have established a general trendline for healthy, aging adult humans, whereby the brain's viscoelastic properties 'soften' over many decades. Earlier studies of the aging brain have demonstrated a wide spectrum of changes in morphology and composition towards the later decades of lifespan. This leads to a major question of causal mechanisms: of the many changes documented in structure and composition of the aging brain, which ones drive the long term trendline for viscoelastic properties of grey matter and white matter? The issue is important for illuminating which factors brain elastography is sensitive to, defining its unique role for study of the brain and clinical diagnoses of neurological disease and injury.

Practical settings for shear wave speed estimation using the framework of Reverberant Shear Wave Elastography: A numerical simulation study.

Reverberant shear wave elastography (RSWE) has become a promising approach to quantifying soft tissues' viscoelastic properties by the propagating shear wave speed (SWS) estimation based on the particle velocity autocorrelation. In this work, three different practical settings were evaluated for the SWS estimation by numerical simulations of an isotropic, homogenous, and elastic medium: first, the 2D representation of the particle velocity, second, the spatial autocorrelation computation, and third, the selection of the curve fitting domain. We conclude that the 2D autocorrelation function using the Wiener-Khinchin theorem provides up to 127 times faster results than traditional autocorrelation methods.

Plantar Soft Tissue Characterization Using Reverberant Shear Wave Elastography: A Proof-of-Concept Study.

Plantar soft tissue stiffness provides relevant information on biomechanical characteristics of the foot. Therefore, appropriate monitoring of foot elasticity could be useful for diagnosis, treatment or health care of people with complex pathologies such as a diabetic foot. In this work, the reliability of reverberant shear wave elastography (RSWE) applied to plantar soft tissue was investigated.

Diabetes Status is Associated With Plantar Soft Tissue Stiffness Measured Using Ultrasound Reverberant Shear Wave Elastography Approach.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the mechanical properties of plantar soft tissue and diabetes status.

Method: 51 (M/F: 21/30) participants with prediabetes onset (fasting blood sugar [FBS] level > 100 mg/dL), age >18 years, and no lower limb amputation were recruited after ethical approval was granted from Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru ethical review board. Ultrasound reverberant shear wave elastography was used to assess the soft tissue stiffness at the 1st metatarsal head (MTH), 3rd MTH, and the heel at both feet.