Development of a tool ultrasound-based tendon injury diagnosis and rehabilitation assessment

该项目将开发一种基于超声的工具，用于诊断肌肉骨骼肌腱损伤和评估肌腱手术修复结果。这是通过使用现成的超声仪器来无创测量手臂/手腕内的肌腱偏移来实现的。提议的测量工具旨在作为现有商用超声机的附加应用程序实施，并可以为它们提供目前不可用的新的诊断和评估功能。它在四个方面有宝贵的应用：(a)作为医生确定肌腱损伤导致的手部损伤的诊断工具，(b)作为手术修复的规划工具，(c)作为评估手术后结果和监测康复团的评估工具，以及(d)作为技术人员和住院医生的培训工具。该技术通过监测一系列b超扫描图像，并使用斑点跟踪来测量肌腱的位移。这种内部位移信息，加上对患者手部功能的外部视觉评估，可用于诊断各种损伤并评估康复进展。在这个I2I一期项目中，我们将通过提高跟踪技术的准确性和效率，开发自动定位功能来定位肌腱以更好地跟踪，以及开发超声技术人员可以使用的图形用户界面（GUI），将我们的实验室级系统开发成临床系统。该临床系统将与现有的超声仪器一起工作，并指导医疗专业人员通过一系列测量和步骤，以简化诊断程序。最终结果将是改善肌腱病变的诊断，通过评估康复团进行患者康复，以及培训医生。

This project will develop an ultrasound-based tool for diagnosis of MSK (musculoskeletal) tendon injuries and assessment of tendon surgical repair outcomes. This is achieved by using readily available ultrasound machines to non-invasively measure tendon excursion within the arm/wrist. The proposed measurement tool is aimed for implementation as an add-on application for existing commercial ultrasound machines, and could provide them with new diagnostic and assessment functionality that is not currently available. It has valuable application in four areas: (a) as a diagnostic tool for doctors to determine hand impairment due to tendon injuries, (b) as a planning tool for surgical repairs, (c) as an assessment tool to evaluate post-surgical outcomes and monitor the rehabilitation regiment, and (d) as a training tool for technicians and resident doctors. The proposed technology works by monitoring a sequence of B-Scan ultrasound images, and uses speckle tracking to measure the displacement of the tendons. This internal displacement information, together with an external visual assessment of the patient's hand function, can be used to diagnose various injuries and assess rehabilitation progress. Within this I2I Phase I project, we will develop our lab-grade system into a clinical system by increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the tracking technique, developing an auto-localization feature to locate the tendon for better tracking, and developing a graphical user interface (GUI) that can be used by ultrasound technicians. This clinical system will be developed to work with existing ultrasound machines, and guides the medical professional through a series of measurements and steps, to simplify the diagnosis procedure. The end result will be improved diagnosis of tendon pathologies, patient rehabilitation through assessment of the rehab regiment, and training of doctors.