Over the past decade, ultrasound elastography has emerged as a new technique for measuring soft tissue properties. Real-time, noninvasive, and quantitative evaluations of tissue stiffness have improved and aid in the assessment of normal and pathological conditions. Specifically, its use has substantially increased in the evaluation of muscle, tendon, and ligament properties. In this review, the authors describe the principles of elastography and present different techniques including strain elastography and shear-wave elastography; discuss their applications for assessing soft tissues in the hand before, during, and postsurgeries; present the strengths and limitations of their measurement capabilities; and describe directions for future research.

中文翻译：

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用于手软组织评估的超声弹性成像。

在过去的十年中，超声弹性成像已成为一种测量软组织特性的新技术。对组织硬度的实时、无创和定量评估得到了改善，并有助于评估正常和病理状况。具体来说，它在评估肌肉、肌腱和韧带特性方面的使用已大大增加。在这篇综述中，作者描述了弹性成像的原理，并介绍了不同的技术，包括应变弹性成像和剪切波弹性成像；讨论他们在术前、术中和术后评估手部软组织的应用；介绍其测量能力的优势和局限性；并描述未来研究的方向。