Quantification of muscle tissue properties by modeling the statistics of ultrasound image intensities using a mixture of gamma distributions in children with and without cerebral palsy

Abstract

Objectives—To investigate whether quantitative ultrasound (US) imaging, based on the envelope statistics of the backscattered US signal, can describe muscle properties in typically developing children and those with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods—Radiofrequency US data were acquired from the rectus femoris muscle of children with CP (n522) and an age-matched cohort without CP (n514) at rest and during maximal voluntary isometric contraction. A mixture of gamma distributions was used to model the histogram of the echo intensities within a region of interest in the muscle. Results—Muscle in CP had a heterogeneous echo texture that was significantly different from that in healthy controls (P