Shear-Wave Elastography Assessments of Quadriceps Stiffness Changes prior to, during and after Prolonged Exercise: A Longitudinal Study during an Extreme Mountain Ultra-Marathon - Fig 1

<p>a) US image obtained in axial plane showing the different areas of interest within the quadriceps muscle: the RF, rectus femoris (red); the VL, vastus lateralis (pink); and the VM, vastus medialis (green). b) Elastographic data collection: 5 circular 5 mm-diameter ROIs (Q boxes) were manually placed within each squared SWE box by the same radiologist, who was experienced in performing musculoskeletal ultrasound. For example, this picture shows the positions of the Q boxes for the RF. The operator was blinded to the quantitative shear modulus data. c), d), E) and f) are in-plane fiber-aligned US images of the RF, VM, VL, respectively. The orange-dotted square ROIs correspond to the three sequential positions of the SWE-boxes used for the SWE measurements. Thus, at each investigation time, 9 SWE boxes were saved (3 for the RF, 3 for the VM and 3 for the VL). Note the absence of gas bubbles within the thick gel layer. The X- and Y-scales are, respectively, the in-plane and depth distances in centimeters.