Teagan Graber, “Establishing the Reliability of Ultrasound Transducer Placement with a Custom Headset”
Mentor: Barbara Pauloski, Rehabilitation Sciences & Technology
Poster #76

B-mode ultrasound with the transducer placed under the chin is being used increasingly as a tool to measure morphologic change in submental (under the chin) musculature in response to swallowing exercises. One challenge in this procedure is ensuring that the ultrasound transducer is positioned in the same location from evaluation to evaluation. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability of placement of the ultrasound transducer submentally in healthy adults with the use of a custom headset. Ten participants were recruited for the study. Each participant was fitted with the headset in the optimal position to hold the transducer midway between the mental symphysis (chin) and hyoid bone (in the anterior neck). The geniohyoid muscle (a muscle under the chin) was captured with B-mode ultrasound. Area of the geniohyoid muscle was measured with standard imaging software. Each participant returned one week later and repeated the procedure using the headset settings from the initial session. They were also measured by the researcher holding the transducer by hand. Intraclass correlation (ICC) between the first and second visits with the headset was 0.992 which indicates nearly perfect agreement between the two visits. ICC between the headset measurement and handheld measurement was 0.790, indicating strong agreement between the two methods. Use of the headset permits consistent and exceptionally reliable positioning of the transducer across the two evaluations, yielding nearly perfect agreement in measures of geniohyoid muscle area. The results of this study indicate the value of using a custom headset for ultrasound transducer placement for documenting change of muscle area in response to swallowing exercises.