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Reliability of Measuring Geniohyoid Cross-Sectional Area with B-Mode Ultrasound. Dysphagia 2025 Feb;40(1):141-151

Date

05/25/2024

Pubmed ID

38789680

DOI

10.1007/s00455-024-10712-3

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85193916091 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   2 Citations

Abstract

B-mode ultrasound is a safe noninvasive procedure that has been used to characterize aspects of the oropharyngeal swallow. The submental suprahyoid muscles are often investigated with ultrasound because of their contributions to hyolaryngeal elevation. There are several techniques for positioning the ultrasound transducer in the coronal plane, however, there is limited research on how reliability of measurement of the cross-sectional area (CSA) of the geniohyoid differs across transducer placement technique. This study examined three methods of transducer placement in the coronal plane by two examiners to determine the reliability of measurement of CSA of the geniohyoid muscle. Forty healthy adults participated in the study. Each participant's geniohyoid muscles were imaged using B-mode ultrasound under three transducer placement conditions in the coronal plane by two examiners. Geniohyoid CSA was measured from each ultrasound image. A three-way mixed-methods ANOVA was used to determine whether there were significant differences in geniohyoid CSA among transducer position conditions, trials, and examiners. There were significant differences among the transducer placement conditions, indicating that each condition was measuring a different portion of the muscle. There were no significant differences among repeated trials nor between examiners within each method of transducer placement. All three conditions of transducer placement were reliable at measuring geniohyoid CSA across trials and examiners. This study emphasizes the need for consistency of placement, whichever method is selected. It also highlights the need for researchers to provide a precise description of methods for positioning the transducer so that placement is reproducible.

Author List

Pauloski BR, Yahnke KM

Author

Barbara R. Pauloski PhD, CCC-SLP Associate Professor in the Communication Sciences & Disorders department at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Deglutition
Female
Healthy Volunteers
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neck Muscles
Reproducibility of Results
Transducers
Ultrasonography
Young Adult