WHAT DOES IT DO?

It facilitates the re-learning process of the motor control problems which can result from back pain and spinal surgery. This helps patients improve the recruitment and strength of their abdominal core muscles, multifidus in the spine and the pelvic floor. The true value of using RTUS in the clinical setting is that it allows you and your physiotherapist to see these deep muscles on a computer screen as they contract. It is a non invasive procedure which creates a video of what is going on inside the body from the outside. This gives both you and your physiotherapist biofeedback on how well you are using these muscles. As you are dynamically assessed this provides a measure on which to build as you learn to improve your motor control.

WHICH MUSCLES CAN BE IMAGED?

Pelvic Floor:  we can assess whether the pelvic floor muscles are moving in the right direction, and being recruited in the correct way.

Transversus Abdominus:  we can assess whether your deep abdominals are able to work to support your spine and pelvis.

Multifidus: your spine also has deep muscles close to the spine that help stabilize the spine. In clients with back pain these are usually not functioning well, so we can assess their function and teach you how the retrain them back to normal strength.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ultrasound imaging has been used since the 1950s to identify the structural integrity and tissue make-up in both musculoskeletal and gynaecological assessment. As the cost and portability of the ultrasound machines have reduced it has become a much more accessible assessment tool. Physiotherapists and Sports medicine Doctors have been using ultrasound imaging since the 1980s mainly to assess muscle size changes and activation, trauma and swelling of joints and tendons. Structural changes of the bladder and pelvic floor is also assessed. Physiotherapist have embraced the clinical use of RTUS as a result of recent and on going research that showed the main problem patients with back pain have is one of motion control of the deep muscles of the trunk, rather than weakness. These deep muscles include the transversus abdominis, the deep segmental fibers of lumbar multifidus, the pelvic floor, and the diaphragm. The use of RTUS to observe the contraction of muscles is so valuable, as they are so deep and not easily palpated or visable.