Elastosonography and elastic modulus in healthy young heel pads

The aim of this study is to investigate whether is possible to find a correlation between heel pad elastic properties by means of sonoelastography and a compression device specifically designed. To date sonoelastography was not used for clinical correlation of heel pad elasticity. Sixteen healthy subjects (9F/7M, 31-35 years old) underwent B-mode ultrasound (for heel pad thickness measurement), sonoelastography (for soft tissue investigation) and compression tests (for elastic modulus assessment) on both heel pads. Findings showed that females had lower elastic modulus than males, that corresponded to a higher percentage of soft tissue.