PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability and validity of pelvic tilting angle measurements using a smart phone-based inclinometer (Clino) compared to a palpation meter (PALM) in the standing and sitting position. This study used an interchangeable method with Clino to measure the pelvic tilting angle in the standing and sitting positions. METHODS: Twenty healthy subjects were recruited. Measurements of the pelvic tilting angle in the standing and sitting positions were obtained by two examiners using the Clino and PALM. A resting session was conducted 10 minutes later to assess the intra and inter rater reliability. To assess validity of the measurement using Clino, a PALM was used as the gold standard. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to determine the intra and inter rater reliability of Clino and a PALM. To assess the validity, the Pearson correlation coefficients were used for two measurement techniques to measure the pelvic tilting angle in the standing and sitting positions. The statistical significance was set to α=0.05. RESULTS: Measurements of the pelvic tilt had high inter-rater reliability in the standing (ICC=0.82) and sitting (ICC=0.88) positions using Clino and intra-rater reliability in the standing (ICC=0.87) and sitting (ICC=0.91) positions using Clino. Measurements of the pelvic tilt had high validity by a comparison of PALM and Clino in the standing (r=0.83) and sitting (r=0.89) positions (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The use of Clino can be recommended as a tool to replace the PALM and measure the pelvic tilt angle in the standing and sitting positions while maintaining the clinical reliability and validity.
Healthy Volunteers ; Methods ; Palpation ; Reproducibility of Results

PURPOSE: This study is designed to evaluate the reliability for studies of tensiomyography (TMG). TMG can evaluate muscle function noninvasively and selectively. METHODS: We measured 12 male volunteers (age, 26.5±7.6 years; height, 175.3±4.7 cm; weight, 78.8±13.3 kg) in this study and measured TMG during three occasions over 3 consecutive days. None of the participants has had any history of neuromuscular disorders or muscle diseases. Vastus lateralis, vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF) in quadriceps and biceps femoris, semitendinosus in hamstrings muscles were measured. Coefficient of variation (CV%) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) have been calculated about maximal displacement (Dm, mm) and contraction time (Tc, ms) which are main parameters. RESULTS: Most of the ICC of Dm were over 0.8 and the highest among the muscles except both VM. And, most ICC of Tc was lower than Dm except both BF (right, 18.31; left, 15.03). But, the ICC of Tc was lower than Dm except left RF (0.890) and VM (0.859). CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the Dm is high levels of the ICC and CV(%) in thigh muscle except VM. In the future, we plan to establish the method of measurement more clearly for reducing the errors of measurements. The technique of correct palpation of measurable muscles using TMG devices is also necessary.
Humans ; Male ; Methods ; Muscles ; Palpation ; Quadriceps Muscle ; Thigh ; Volunteers

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a well accepted initial approach in the management of thyroid lesions. It has come a long way since its introduction for nearly a century ago. In the Philippines, FNA of the thyroid was first introduced 30 years ago and has been utilized until now as a mainstay in the diagnosis of thyroid malignancy. The procedure is performed by pathologists, endocrinologists, surgeons, and radiologists. Most pathologists report the cytodiagnosis using a combination of the aspiration biopsy cytology method that closely resembles the histopathologic diagnosis of thyroid disorders and the six-tier nomenclature of The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Local endocrinologists and surgeons follow the guidelines of the 2015 American Thyroid Association in the management of thyroid disorders. There is still a paucity of local research studies but available data deal with cytohistologic correlations, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy rates as well as usefulness of ultrasound-guided FNA. Cytohistologic correlations have a wide range of sensitivity from 30.7% to 73% and specificity from 83% to 100%. The low sensitivity can be attributed to poor tissue sampling since a majority of the thyroid FNA is done by palpation only. The reliability can be improved if FNA is guided by ultrasound as attested in both international and local studies. Overall, FNA of the thyroid has enabled the diagnosis of thyroid disorders with an accuracy of 72.8% to 87.2% and it correlates well with histopathology.
Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Biopsy, Needle ; Cytodiagnosis ; Diagnosis ; Methods ; Palpation ; Philippines* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Surgeons ; Thyroid Gland* ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effectiveness of fine needle aspiration (FNA) conducted by the otolaryngologists, we compared the ultrasound (US)-guided FNA results conducted by a radiologist (RD-US), the US-guided FNA results (ENT-US), and the palpation guided FNA results (ENT-palpation) conducted by an otolaryngologist. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: 1646 patients who underwent FNA were classified according to the site and periods of investigation (2007-2015), and their sampling adequacy was retrospectively reviewed. They were also divided into three groups (ENT-US, ENT-palpation, and RD-US); each group was then investigated for sampling adequacy. Results of further surgical excisional biopsy were compared with the those of the FNA results to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of all three groups. RESULTS: The sampling adequacy identified by the groups showed the result of ENT-US at 87.9%, ENT-palpation at 87.1% and RD-US at 91.3%. The periodical inadequacy rate failed to show any significant differences between the groups. The sensitivity of ENT-palpation was lower than other two groups. Diagnostic accuracy identified by the groups showed the result of ENT-US at 95.2%, ENT-palpation at 93.6%, and RD-US at 97.4%. CONCLUSION: FNA performed by otolaryngologists demonstrates the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment, and that doing so would improve economic efficiency. Therefore, it is recommended that well-trained otolaryngologists conduct FNA actively.
Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Methods ; Palpation ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The adequate safety margin in tongue cancer is the most important prognostic factor for local recurrence and survival. This study aimed to evaluate the resection margins using a new technique of tongue resection under the guidance of guide wire under ultrasonography in patients with tongue cancer. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: In this prospective study, 10 patients with presurgical, biopsy-proven, clinical T1 or T2 tongue squamous cell carcinomas underwent resection under the guidance of guide wire inserted using ultrasonography. The data of resection margins of 37 patients who underwent partial glossectomy using the conventional method of palpation were used as control data. RESULTS: The mean safety margins (mm) of the experimental group were 7.59±4.30 (anterior), 8.56±4.69 (posterior), 5.25±3.01 (superior), 5.93±3.66 (inferior), 13.00±13.29 (medial), 5.78±2.64 (deep), and 6.67±3.06 (lateral). There were no differences in the safety margins between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Using guide wire under ultrasonography was not superior to the conventional method for partial glossectomy for having adequate resection margins.
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Glossectomy ; Humans ; Methods ; Palpation ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence ; Tongue Neoplasms* ; Tongue* ; Ultrasonography*

BACKGROUND: In cervical anterior approach, transverse skin incision is preferred due to cosmetic reasons. Precise skin incision is required to reach the surgery segment while minimizing soft tissue injury. Skin incision site is frequently identified using C-arm fluoroscopy or the carotid tubercle. Accordingly, this study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of skin incision using the carotid tubercle as a marker. METHODS: This study was retrospectively conducted on 114 patients who underwent anterior cervical surgery by the same surgeon from April 2004 to June 2012. The rate of the appropriate insertion of K-wire, which was inserted into the disc after anterior approach, into the surgery segment was compared between 62 patients where skin incision site was identified using C-arm fluoroscopy before skin incision and 52 patients where skin incision site was identified using carotid tubercle palpitation before surgery. RESULTS: The needle was shown to have been inserted into the planned site in 106 patients out of the total 114 patients. The appropriate insertion of the needle was shown in 59 patients of group I (95.2%) and in 47 patients of group II (90.4%). Although the success rate was higher in group I than group II, it was statistically insignificant. The success rate of one-segment surgery was shown to be 89.7% in group I and 82.6% in group II. Although the success rate was higher in group I than group II, it was statistically insignificant. The success rate of two-segment surgery was shown to be 100% in group I, and 96.4% in group II due to one case of the failure at C3-4 and C5-6. The success rate of three- and four-segment surgeries was shown to be 100% in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of skin incision site via carotid tubercle palpation was useful for surgeries involving two or more segments. Furthermore, it could be useful for one-segment surgery if surgical site is identified using vertebral body or soft tissues such as longus collis rather than insertion into the disc.
Adult ; Anatomic Landmarks/anatomy & histology/radiography ; Cervical Vertebrae/*anatomy & histology/radiography/*surgery ; Female ; Fluoroscopy/*methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palpation/*methods ; Retrospective Studies

Palpation is one of the major diagnostic methods in Chinese medicine. The article has summed up the current status, features and origins of various palpations in different acupuncture schools in the United States, including palpation on meridian, collaterals and acupoints in traditional Chinese acupuncture, abdominal palpation of Japanese acupuncture, pulse checking for couples in five-element acupuncture, palpation on tendon straps and muscle response testing in acupuncture physical medicine. Since great importance has always been attached on social psychological factors in all acupuncture schools of America, it is thus concluded that the interactive mechanism of diagnosis and treatment represented by palpation feedback examination is not only the manifestation of people oriented individualized treatment both physically and psychologically in America, but also a kind of inheritance and development of diagnosis and treatment in the modernization of TCM.
Acupuncture ; education ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Palpation ; methods ; United States

OBJECTIVETo investigate the methods of lesion localization and surgical treatment for non-palpable breast cancer, presented with only small calcification lesion on the images.

METHODSFrom November 2003 to August 2007, 61 patients with non-palpable lesion were finally pathologically diagnosed as early breast cancer (T1-2N0M0), based on the small calcification lesions shown by full field digital mammography (FFDM) through molybdenum target, and the rich blood supply shown by type-B ultrasonic examination. Accurate lesion-localization prior to surgical resection was conducted, and sample re-examination by FFDM was done after resection. Patients with single lesion underwent breast-conserving surgery, precise excision with the aid of image-guided wire localization, and stage I breast reconstruction was performed simultaneously using wide-based gland-tissue flap. Patients with multiple lesions received modified radical mastectomy.

RESULTSAmong the 50 patients treated with breast-conserving surgery, the accuracy of localization for lesions was 100% (50/50), and all lesions were excised completely with a negative margin proven by FFDM re-examination and pathological examination. The superior rate of mammaplasty was 86.0% (43/50) according to JCRT criteria, with a compliance difference of 1.5 cm. Modified radical mastectomy was performed in 11 patients. The follow-up period in this series was from 6 to 58 months with a mean follow-up time of 39 months. Distant metastases were detected in only one patient and local recurrence was not observed yet.

CONCLUSIONLesion localization by FFDM in patients with non-palpable breast cancer is accurate and practical. In patients with single lesion, breast-conserving resection followed by synchronous stage I breast reconstruction with wide-based gland-tissue flap is appropriate.

Adult ; Aged ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Carcinoma in Situ ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Mammaplasty ; Mammography ; methods ; Mastectomy, Modified Radical ; Mastectomy, Segmental ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Palpation

Elasticity is an important physical property of human tissues. There is a tremendous difference in elasticity between normal and pathological tissues. Noninvasive evaluation of the elasticity of human tissues would be valuable for clinical practice. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a recently developed noninvasive imaging technique that can directly visualize and quantitatively measure tissue elasticity. This article reviewed the MRE technique and its current status.
Algorithms ; Animals ; Breast Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Elasticity ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnosis ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Male ; Palpation ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis

The paper introduces the designing concept of the Cun-Guan-Chi Pulse Detecting System and its basic principles, and structural features. The system comprises 3 independent pressure sensors with same design parameters. It provides a scientific and quantitative method of detecting the pulses, which tallies well with the diagnostic method of the traditional Chinese medicine.
Biosensing Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Models, Biological ; Palpation ; instrumentation ; methods ; Pulse ; Transducers, Pressure