Table 1
Sonographer education session using example images
| R/ED | LD/D | Example images | |
| Thickness | |||
| Thickness was measured in millimetre at the thickest point of the tendon. Overall tendon shape and thickness were analysed and compared with the criteria | Presence of fusiform swelling and/or mildly thickened tendon | Presence of focal thickening Significant thickening that is double the thickness of the distal part of the tendon and/or the contralateral side | R/ED thickness |
LD/D thickness | |||
| Echogenicity | |||
| Echogenicity was described as the overall appearance of collagen fascicles on USI. The main differences between stages were determined to be the distribution of fibrillar changes and size of hypoechoic areas | Heterogeneous echotexture with diffuse hypoechogenicity between fibrillar echoes and/or foci of discontinuity in collagen fibrillar echoes | Heterogeneous echotexture with discrete hypoechoic area/s of >1 mm and/or presence of intrasubstance tears | R/ED echogenicity |
LD/D echogenicity | |||
| Vascularity | |||
| Vascularity was described using the number, size and location of blood vessels throughout the tendon | 0–2 small, thin vessels inside tendon, not through full thickness of tendon | >2 large vessels through full thickness of the tendon | R/ED vascularity |
LD/D vascularity |
LD/D, late dysrepair/degenerative; R/ED, reactive/early dysrepair; USI, ultrasound imaging.