Telerobotic ultrasound assessment of acute sport-related Achilles tendon ruptures and gastrocnemius muscle tears: a clinical feasibility study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical feasibility of telerobotic ultrasound for assessing acute sport-related Achilles tendon ruptures and gastrocnemius muscle tears. DESIGN: A prospective controlled study. METHODS: Patients with suspected acute sport-related Achilles tendon rupture or gastrocnemius muscle tear and healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. All participants underwent both conventional handheld ultrasound and telerobotic ultrasound examinations of the Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius muscle. The two examination methods were compared in terms of their scanning safety, examination duration, and image quality. Physicians and participants were also surveyed regarding their experience with the telerobotic ultrasound system. RESULTS: Of the 61 participants, 12 had acute sport-related injuries, and 49 were healthy controls. Both ultrasound modalities identified the same 12 positive cases. Magnetic resonance imaging served as the diagnostic reference standard. The telerobotic ultrasound took significantly longer than the handheld ultrasound (10.03 ± 2.05 min vs 4.59 ± 0.67 min; t = -19.724, p < 0.001). The inter-rater concordance rate for the image quality scores was 88.7% (κ = 0.384; 95% CI, 0.289-0.472; p < 0.001). The concordance rate between the two imaging modalities was 84.4% (κ = 0.148; 95% CI, 0.060-0.232; p < 0.001). Among the participants, 70.5% (43/61) reported high satisfaction with the telerobotic ultrasound examination. Furthermore, the tele-doctor reported a willingness to use the telerobotic ultrasound as a routine procedure in 91.8% (56/61) of the examinations. CONCLUSIONS: This study preliminarily demonstrates the clinical feasibility of telerobotic ultrasound for evaluating acute sport-related Achilles tendon ruptures and gastrocnemius muscle tears.