Investigation of Ultrasound Elastographic Techniques in Soft Tissue Pathology

Ultrasound (US)tissue elastography has recently been found to have a number of clinical applications in the assessment of soft tissue disease for example, in breast and thyroid pathology. There are few current studies exploring its use in musculoskeletal pathology, particularly a new technique called sheer wave ultrasound elastography (SWUE). Magnetic Resonance (MR) elastography has shown wide reaching applications in orthopaedics, sports medicine and rheumatology and SWUE may have the potential to also demonstrate clinical effectiveness in these areas. Our aim is to explore the effectiveness of this technique in the assessment of musculoskeletal pathology. Participants will be recruited through current referral protocols and would undergo an additional elastographic investigation in addition to their standard US examination. This investigation will be conducted within the musculoskeletal US department at Chapel Allerton Hospital by trained musculoskeletal specialists. The study will be conducted over a period of approximately 24 months with quarterly review during this time.