Noninvasive and quantitative evaluation of movement disorder disability using an infrared depth sensor.

Cerebellar ataxia and Parkinson's disease are neurodegenerative disorders clinically characterized by motor disabilities including gait disturbance. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of an infrared depth sensor device to quantitatively evaluate gait disturbances in patients with movement disorders. 25 ataxic, 25 Parkinson's disease, and 25 control subjects were enrolled and evaluated their walk.

Shear wave velocity measurement of upper trapezius muscle by color Doppler shear wave imaging.

Purpose: Skeletal muscle stiffness is thought to be the result of increased tissue hardness, but measurement accuracy has been dependent on operator technique. We have proposed a novel shear wave real-time imaging method (color Doppler shear wave imaging: CD SWI) with continuous shear waves excited from the tissue surface by a mechanical vibrator.

Methods: Using the method, shear wave velocity was measured for the upper trapezius muscle.

Shear Wave Wavefront Mapping Using Ultrasound Color Flow Imaging.

A wavefront reconstruction method for a continuous shear wave is proposed. The method uses ultrasound color flow imaging (CFI) to detect the shear wave's wavefront. When the shear wave vibration frequency satisfies the required frequency condition and the displacement amplitude satisfies the displacement amplitude condition, zero and maximum flow velocities appear at the shear wave vibration phases of zero and π rad, respectively.