Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations
Exercise has been demonstrated to improve health in people with diabetes. However, exercise may increase risk for foot ulcers because of increased plantar pressure during most weight-bearing physical activities. To date, there is no study investigating the effect of various walking speeds and durati...
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MDPI AG
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/21/7498 |
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| author | Chi-Wen Lung Fu-Lien Wu Keying Zhang Ben-Yi Liau Runnell Townsend Yih-Kuen Jan |
| author_facet | Chi-Wen Lung Fu-Lien Wu Keying Zhang Ben-Yi Liau Runnell Townsend Yih-Kuen Jan |
| author_sort | Chi-Wen Lung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Exercise has been demonstrated to improve health in people with diabetes. However, exercise may increase risk for foot ulcers because of increased plantar pressure during most weight-bearing physical activities. To date, there is no study investigating the effect of various walking speeds and durations (i.e., the most common form of exercise in daily living) on the plantar foot. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various walking intensities on plantar tissue stiffness. A 3 × 2 factorial design, including three walking speeds (1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 mph) and two durations (10 and 20 min), was tested in 12 healthy participants. B-mode and elastographic ultrasound images were measured from the first metatarsal head to quantify plantar tissue stiffness after walking. Two-way ANOVA was used to examine the results. Our results showed that the walking speed factor caused a significant main effect of planar stiffness of the superficial layers (<i>p</i> = 0.007 and 0.003, respectively). However, the walking duration factor did not significantly affect the plantar stiffness. There was no interaction between the speed and duration factors on plantar tissue stiffness. Regarding the walking speed effect, there was a significant difference in the plantar stiffness between 1.8 and 3.6 mph (56.8 ± 0.8% vs. 53.6 ± 0.9%, <i>p</i> = 0.017) under 20 min walking duration. This finding is significant because moderate-to-fast walking speed (3.6 mph) can decrease plantar stiffness compared to slow walking speed (1.8 mph). This study suggests people at risk for foot ulcers walk at a preferred or fast speed (3.6 mph) rather than walk slowly (1.8 mph). |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T15:20:55Z |
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| spelling | doaj.art-a6bd9fd6d77b4ae58441144155d86d3f2023-11-20T18:29:25ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172020-10-011021749810.3390/app10217498Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and DurationsChi-Wen Lung0Fu-Lien Wu1Keying Zhang2Ben-Yi Liau3Runnell Townsend4Yih-Kuen Jan5Rehabilitation Engineering Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USARehabilitation Engineering Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USARehabilitation Engineering Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Hungkuang University, Taichung 43302, TaiwanRehabilitation Engineering Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USARehabilitation Engineering Lab, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USAExercise has been demonstrated to improve health in people with diabetes. However, exercise may increase risk for foot ulcers because of increased plantar pressure during most weight-bearing physical activities. To date, there is no study investigating the effect of various walking speeds and durations (i.e., the most common form of exercise in daily living) on the plantar foot. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various walking intensities on plantar tissue stiffness. A 3 × 2 factorial design, including three walking speeds (1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 mph) and two durations (10 and 20 min), was tested in 12 healthy participants. B-mode and elastographic ultrasound images were measured from the first metatarsal head to quantify plantar tissue stiffness after walking. Two-way ANOVA was used to examine the results. Our results showed that the walking speed factor caused a significant main effect of planar stiffness of the superficial layers (<i>p</i> = 0.007 and 0.003, respectively). However, the walking duration factor did not significantly affect the plantar stiffness. There was no interaction between the speed and duration factors on plantar tissue stiffness. Regarding the walking speed effect, there was a significant difference in the plantar stiffness between 1.8 and 3.6 mph (56.8 ± 0.8% vs. 53.6 ± 0.9%, <i>p</i> = 0.017) under 20 min walking duration. This finding is significant because moderate-to-fast walking speed (3.6 mph) can decrease plantar stiffness compared to slow walking speed (1.8 mph). This study suggests people at risk for foot ulcers walk at a preferred or fast speed (3.6 mph) rather than walk slowly (1.8 mph).https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/21/7498diabetic foot ulcerselastographyultrasoundwalking durationswalking speeds |
| spellingShingle | Chi-Wen Lung Fu-Lien Wu Keying Zhang Ben-Yi Liau Runnell Townsend Yih-Kuen Jan Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations Applied Sciences diabetic foot ulcers elastography ultrasound walking durations walking speeds |
| title | Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations |
| title_full | Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations |
| title_fullStr | Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations |
| title_short | Using Elastographic Ultrasound to Assess Plantar Tissue Stiffness after Walking at Different Speeds and Durations |
| title_sort | using elastographic ultrasound to assess plantar tissue stiffness after walking at different speeds and durations |
| topic | diabetic foot ulcers elastography ultrasound walking durations walking speeds |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/10/21/7498 |
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