Ultrasound has the potential to detect degeneration of articular cartilage clinically, even if the information is obtained from an indirect measurement of intrinsic physical characteristics
1 Division of Motor Function Analysis, Department of Physical Therapy, Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
2 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, 612-8555, Japan
3 Department of Applied Medical Engineering Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Yamaguchi University, Ube, Yamaguchi, 755-8611, Japan
4 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan
Arthritis Research & Therapy 2009, 11:408 doi:10.1186/ar2727
See related research by Nakagawa et al., http://arthritis-research.com/content/10/4/R78, and related editorial by Zhang and Huang, http://arthritis-research.com/content/10/6/125
Published: 24 June 2009First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
We appreciate the concern shown by Zheng and Huang [1] regarding our earlier article [2]. We presented simple data showing that the ultrasound response of articular cartilage may be related to its International Cartilage Repair Society grading, and concluded that ultrasound evaluation using the signal intensity – dependent on the ultrasound reflection coefficient at the cartilage surface – may be helpful to differentiate International Cartilage Repair Society grades, especially grade 0 from grade 1 cartilage [2].
