TY - JOUR
T1 - Interrater reliability of quantitative ultrasound using force feedback among examiners with varied levels of experience
AU - Harris-Love, Michael O.
AU - Ismail, Catheeja
AU - Monfaredi, Reza
AU - Hernandez, Haniel J.
AU - Pennington, Donte
AU - Woletz, Paula
AU - McIntosh, Valerie
AU - Adams, Bernadette
AU - Blackman, Marc R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This publication was partially supported by Award Number UL1TR000075 and UL1TR000101 from the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program (CTSA), and a VISN 5 Pilot Research Grant (VISN 5; VA Station: 688)-VHA/VA Capitol Health Care Network. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Background. Quantitative ultrasound measures are influenced by multiple external factors including examiner scanning force. Force feedback may foster the acquisition of reliable morphometry measures under a variety of scanning conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of force-feedback image acquisition and morphometry over a range of examiner-generated forces using a muscle tissuemimicking ultrasound phantom. Methods. Sixty material thickness measures were acquired from a muscle tissue mimicking phantom using B-mode ultrasound scanning by six examiners with varied experience levels (i.e., experienced, intermediate, and novice). Estimates of interrater reliability and measurement error with force feedback scanning were determined for the examiners. In addition, criterion-based reliability was determined using material deformation values across a range of examiner scanning forces (1-10 Newtons) via automated and manually acquired image capture methods using force feedback. Results. All examiners demonstrated acceptable interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC =.98, p <.001) for material thickness measures obtained using force feedback. Individual examiners exhibited acceptable reliability with the criterion-based reference measures (ICC >.90, p <.001), independent of their level of experience. The measurement error among all examiners was 1.5%-2.9% across all applied stress conditions. Conclusion. Manual image capture with force feedback may aid the reliability of morphometry measures across a range of examiner scanning forces, and allow for consistent performance among examiners with differing levels of experience.
AB - Background. Quantitative ultrasound measures are influenced by multiple external factors including examiner scanning force. Force feedback may foster the acquisition of reliable morphometry measures under a variety of scanning conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of force-feedback image acquisition and morphometry over a range of examiner-generated forces using a muscle tissuemimicking ultrasound phantom. Methods. Sixty material thickness measures were acquired from a muscle tissue mimicking phantom using B-mode ultrasound scanning by six examiners with varied experience levels (i.e., experienced, intermediate, and novice). Estimates of interrater reliability and measurement error with force feedback scanning were determined for the examiners. In addition, criterion-based reliability was determined using material deformation values across a range of examiner scanning forces (1-10 Newtons) via automated and manually acquired image capture methods using force feedback. Results. All examiners demonstrated acceptable interrater reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC =.98, p <.001) for material thickness measures obtained using force feedback. Individual examiners exhibited acceptable reliability with the criterion-based reference measures (ICC >.90, p <.001), independent of their level of experience. The measurement error among all examiners was 1.5%-2.9% across all applied stress conditions. Conclusion. Manual image capture with force feedback may aid the reliability of morphometry measures across a range of examiner scanning forces, and allow for consistent performance among examiners with differing levels of experience.
KW - Diagnostic imaging
KW - Morphometry
KW - Quantitative ultrasound
KW - Reliability
KW - Robotics
KW - Sensorimotor feedback
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977123649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84977123649&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7717/peerj.2146
DO - 10.7717/peerj.2146
M3 - Article
C2 - 27366647
AN - SCOPUS:84977123649
SN - 2167-8359
VL - 2016
JO - PeerJ
JF - PeerJ
IS - 6
M1 - e2146
ER -