Quantitative Evaluation of Rotator Cuff Tears Based on Non-linear Statistical Analysis of Ultrasound Radiofrequency Signals

There is increasing clinical requirement for early and accurate ultrasound diagnosis of rotator cuff tears (RCTs). A method based on non-linear statistical analysis was proposed for the detection of RCTs using ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) signals. One hundred fifty-two patients with shoulder pain were first examined with ultrasound and then diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the ground truth. By comparison of the region of interest (ROI) with a part of the supraspinatus with no pathologic change part in the same RF signal frame, the relative Pks value (viz., rPks value) was evaluated to quantify the pathophysiologic changes. The results indicated that the rPks values of all RCTs are