Tendon excursion measurements with colour Doppler imaging.

We assessed the applicability of tendon excursion measurement by means of Colour Doppler Imaging (CDI) on human specimens, and also assessed the correlation between values measured by Doppler and by displacement meters. Muscles were separately connected to a mass of 1 kg with a steel wire running over a pulley. This weight moved the telescopic end of a digital displacement meter up and down during passive extension and flexion of the fingers. Excursion was measured with a pulsed multi-channel CDI scanner on the same arm. Assessment of finger tendon excursion with CDI correlated well with the mechanical micro displacement meter, the latter being considered the most accurate method in cadaver studies.