135492 20260217205540.0 doi 10.3390/diagnostics14111067 sideral 138655 ART-2024-138655 eng Albarova-Corral, Isabel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-1292-3163 A New Quantitative Tool for the Ultrasonographic Assessment of Tendons: A Reliability and Validity Study on the Patellar Tendon 2024 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Ultrasound is widely used for tendon assessment due to its safety, affordability, and portability, but its subjective nature poses challenges. This study aimed to develop a new quantitative analysis tool based on artificial intelligence to identify statistical patterns of healthy and pathological tendons. Furthermore, we aimed to validate this new tool by comparing it to experts’ subjective assessments. A pilot database including healthy controls and patients with patellar tendinopathy was constructed, involving 14 participants with asymptomatic (n = 7) and symptomatic (n = 7) patellar tendons. Ultrasonographic images were assessed twice, utilizing both the new quantitative tool and the subjective scoring method applied by an expert across five regions of interest. The database contained 61 variables per image. The robustness of the clinical and quantitative assessments was tested via reliability analyses. Lastly, the prediction accuracy of the quantitative features was tested via cross-validated generalized linear mixed-effects logistic regressions. These analyses showed high reliability for quantitative variables related to “Bone” and “Quality”, with ICCs above 0.75. The ICCs for “Edges” and “Thickness” varied but mostly exceeded 0.75. The results of this study show that certain quantitative variables are capable of predicting an expert’s subjective assessment with generally high cross-validated AUC scores. A new quantitative tool for the ultrasonographic assessment of the tendon was designed. This system is shown to be a reliable and valid method for evaluating the patellar tendon structure. info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess All rights reserved http://www.europeana.eu/rights/rr-f/ 3.3 2024 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL 57 / 332 = 0.172 2024 Q1 T1 0.773 2024 Internal Medicine 2024 Q2 Clinical Biochemistry 2024 Q2 5.9 2024 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Segovia-Burillo, José Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0009-0005-1896-753X Malo-Urriés, Miguel Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9080-0543 Ríos-Asín, Izarbe Universidad de Zaragoza Asín, Jesús Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-0174-789X Castillo-Mateo, Jorge Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-3859-0248 Gracia-Tabuenca, Zeus Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-2461-8588 Morales-Hernández, Mario Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-6961-7250 2007 265 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Métodos Estadísticos Área Estadís. Investig. Opera. 1006 413 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Fisiatría y Enfermería Área Fisioterapia 5001 600 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ciencia Tecnol.Mater.Fl. Área Mecánica de Fluidos 14, 11 (2024), 1067 [14 pp.] Diagnostics 2075-4418 1333437 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135492/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2788995 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/135492/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:135492 articulos driver 2026-02-17-20:35:49 ARTICLE