August 08, 2007
UNL Research Yielding New Way to Measure Tendon Injury
LINCOLN, Neb. — A University of Nebraska-Lincoln biomedical engineer is developing a new approach to measuring tendon injury that could lead to earlier detection and improved treatment.
Greg Bashford, a scientist in UNL's Department of Biological Systems Engineering, is working with colleagues at the University of Southern California and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln to improve early detection of tendon degeneration due to age, overuse or a systemic disease known as tendinosis. The condition can strike tendons in both the legs and arms.
"The tendon pain can persist for quite a long time – weeks, months, years," said Kornelia Kulig, a biomechanics scientist at USC who's one of the partners in the research. "The pain comes and goes, and it does affect a person's lifestyle," including ability to work.
Currently, magnetic resonance imaging is used to assess potential tendon injury, but that process is expensive and unable to determine the degree and stage of injury, Bashford said. He and his colleagues set out to see if ultrasound, a more cost-effective procedure, could determine the existence of tendon injury even before there's pain and also measure its severity.
Bashford said the work builds on about a decade of research by Kulig and Judith Burnfield, director of Madonna's Movement Sciences Center.
Researchers gathered about 1,000 ultrasound images of selected tendons in the legs from 40 subjects in California and Lincoln – 10 with no known tendon injury, 10 with suspected tendon injury, 10 runners susceptible to tendon injury and 10 individuals with spinal cord injuries whose leg use is minimal.
Bashford analyzed the ultrasound images using different software approaches, some already established and some that he created. He was able to determine, with more than 80 percent accuracy, whether the subject had sustained injury to the tendon, resulting in tendinosis.
Ultrasound images of healthy tendons show tissue organized in parallel bundles, Bashford said. Images of damaged tendon show bundles that are disorganized with, in some cases, thicker sections of tissue.
Computer analysis was able to distinguish between normal and damaged tendons with a variety of images taken from different angles, Bashford added.
These findings could have important ramifications for patients dealing with tendon damage, said Kulig and Burnfield.
"If you can detect injury earlier, that allows for therapeutic interventions beyond waiting for surgical solutions," Burnfield said.
Researchers plan to continue studying the use of ultrasound. They want to focus on its effectiveness in measuring the severity of tendinosis. That could have important treatment ramifications because it could track a patient's progress over time, said Kulig and Burnfield, who are both physical therapists.
The research also gave Nick Tomsen, a biological systems engineering student from Minden, some valuable experience. Tomsen got involved in feeding data into the computer as researchers trained the software to recognize the difference between damaged and undamaged tendons.
"I was given a task and ... given a lot of room to try out my own thoughts and learn on my own," said Tomsen, who graduated in May and will enter medical school at the University of Iowa this fall. "It was very cool to have a hand in this at the undergraduate level."
The Department of Biological Systems Engineerings is a part of the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources includes UNL Extension, the Agricultural Research Division and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. A 2007 study by an independent organization found IANR annually returns at least $15 in benefits to Nebraskans for every dollar of state support, making it a primary engine for economic and social sustainability (At Work for Nebraska).
8/8/07-DM
Greg Bashford - Ph. D.
Biological Systems Engineering
Assistant Professor
(402) 472-1745
Dan Moser IANR News & Photography Coordinator (402) 472-3007
Department: Biological Systems Engineering
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