Automated detection of skeletal muscle twitches from B-mode ultrasound images: An application to motor neuron disease

The presence of involuntary muscle twitches is a diagnostic indicator of neurodegenerative diseases, such as motor neurone disease (MND), but current methods of twitch detection are invasive and pose potential risks to patients. We present a method by which standard B-mode ultrasound can be used to automatically identify muscle twitches similar to those found in patients with MND. The results of initial experimentation are presented, and we show that this technique can detect muscle twitches with a high degree of accuracy.