Extending Ultrasound Elastography to Manual Treatment Methods

Back Pain Clinical Trial

Official title: Extending Ultrasound Elastography to Manual Treatment Methods

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Manual treatment offers benefit to some patients suffering from back pain but little is known about which of the many tissue layers are affected. This study will help identify which tissues may be stimulated sufficiently to be a source for the clinical effects of treatment and to prioritize future work to understand mechanisms of back pain and to improve care.

Current soft-tissue ultrasound elastography techniques, under static condition, will be extended to quantify relative displacement and strains(active and passive)across the depth of tissue strata that arise from small amplitude motions during continuous passive motion clinical procedures and in weight bearing postures. Relative movement of the stratified layers of the back, from treatment and task-generated perturbations, will enable the elastography interrogation of the tissue.

Clinical Trial Description

1. Tissue displacement and strain differs dependent on comparable tasks, in recumbent vs upright postures and muscular activation.

• Refine motion tracking and stabilization of manual elastography, used in preliminary study, to evaluate layered tissue strain patterns during clinical continuous passive motion (flexion, extension and lateral bending) and standardized weight bearing (stance, flexion to 15 degrees and arm-extended weight holding).

2. Relative muscle activity is significantly related to muscle strain ratio.

• Evaluate the biceps as a simple model, in parallel, for displacement and elastography changes.

3. Displacement and strain decrease monotonically as depth of paraspinal tissue from the surface increases.

• Evaluate the timing relationship of total passive loads, myoelectric paraspinal behavior displacement/strain characteristics at the l4/l5 level for the longissimus, intermuscular fascia and multifidus at baseline and during standardize weight bearing tasks as well as at recumbent baseline, during and return to neutral for prone and lateral recumbent continuous passive motion maneuvers.

4. Change in tissue displacement and strains differ between healthy and unhealthy individuals when change in muscle activity and tissue layer are taken into account.

• Assess any differences in displacement and strain characteristics of the layered longissimus, intermuscular fascia and multifidus between healthy and chronic low back patients in the timing relationship to movement, total passive load amplitudes and myoelectric activity. ;

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Back Pain

• NCT number: NCT01221155
• Study type: Observational
• Source: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 2007
• Completion date: December 2011