Intra- and Inter-Rater Reliability of Processing Ultrasound Tissue Characterization Scans in Midportion Achilles Tendinopathy

Purpose. Ultrasound tissue characterization (UTC) is used to visualize and quantify the Achilles tendon structure. We investigated intra-rater inter-rater reliability of UTC for quantifying midportion structure area maximum degeneration (AoMD) in military personnel with tendinopathy. Method. scans 50 patients (16–60 years) were processed twice by rater 1 once 2. First, was quantified subsequently AoMD. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) calculated echo-types I, II, III, IV, aligned fibrillar (echo-types I + II), disorganized III IV). Results. For structure, all ICC values excellent (range: 0.97 0.99) 0.98 0.99). Regarding AoMD, showed 0.94 0.98) except echo-type II (0.85). Inter-rater 0.92 0.98). Conclusion. Processing highly reliable