The iliotibial band (ITB) is the lateral thickening of the fascia lata. The ITB has been extensively studied for its relevance to injury, but not much is known about its elastic properties. We aimed to investigate the site- and joint angle-dependence of ITB elasticity. We tested twelve healthy males (22–30 years; in vivo) and twelve male cadavers (69–93 years; cadaver). The Young’s modulus of the ITB was measured in the longitudinal direction at five sites (over the proximal, middle, and distal bellies of the vastus lateralis (VL), superior border of the patella, and between femur and tibia) of the right limb, by ultrasound shear wave elastography (in vivo) and the tensile test (cadaver). Joint angle-dependence was also studied for nine different positions (knee angles at 0, 25, 90˚ x hip angles at 0, 40, 90˚) (in vivo). Over VL, the ITB was more compliant at the distal (17.6–190.1 kPa; in vivo, 219.4 ± 68.8 MPa; cadaver, mean ± SD) than other sites (24.2–221.4 kPa, 337.9–362.7 MPa). The ITB at the superior border of the patella and between femur and tibia was stiffer in vivo (31.8–271.8 and 50.9–208.8 kPa), while it was more compliant in cadavers (113.4 ± 63.7 and 130.4 ± 73.7 MPa), compared to other sites. The ITB became stiffer associated with increasing hip extension angle and knee flexion angle, and the hip remarkably affecting the values regardless of site (in vivo). Our findings have clinical significance with respect to the site- and joint angle-dependence of ITB-related overuse injury.

胫束带（ITB）是筋膜的横向增厚。ITB已针对其与损伤的相关性进行了广泛的研究，但对其弹性性能知之甚少。我们旨在研究ITB弹性的部位和关节角度依赖性。我们测试了十二名健康的男性（22–30岁；体内）和十二名男性尸体（69–93岁；尸体）。在右侧肢体的五个部位（在股外侧肌（VL）的近端，中部和远端腹部，bell骨上缘以及股骨和胫骨之间）纵向测量ITB的杨氏模量，超声剪切波弹性成像（体内）和拉伸试验（尸体）。还研究了九种不同位置的关节角度依赖性（体内角度为0、25、90°的膝角x角度为0、40、90°的髋角）。在VL上方，ITB在远端（17.6–190.1 kPa；体内，219.4±68.8 MPa；尸体，均值±SD）比其他部位（24.2–221.4 kPa，337.9–362.7 MPa）更顺应。与其他other骨相比，at骨上缘以及股骨和胫骨之间的ITB体内硬度更高（31.8–271.8和50.9–208.8 kPa），而在尸体中则更顺应（113.4±63.7和130.4±73.7 MPa）。网站。随着髋关节伸展角度和膝关节屈曲角度的增加，ITB变得更僵硬，无论位置如何（在体内，髋关节都会明显影响其值））。我们的发现对于ITB相关过度使用损伤的部位和关节角度依赖性具有临床意义。