Spondyloarthritis & psoriatic arthritis
Validation of Handheld Ultrasound Devices for Point-of-Care Use in Rheumatology: Focus on Synovitis, Doppler Activity, Erosions, and Tendon Lesions
Authors' conclusion
Handheld US devices demonstrated moderate agreement with high-end scanners in identifying and grading synovitis and erosions, suggesting promising potential for clinical application.
Study context
- Population
- Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) patients meeting Classification Criteria for PsA and presenting ≥ tender and swollen joint
- Participants
- 30 patients
- Comparison
- Handheld ultrasonography (US) vs gold-standard scanner
- Outcome
- Inter-device agreement in detecting elementary lesions (synovitis, Doppler signals, erosions, tendon/tenosynovitis; OMERACT definitions)
Methodological detailsconcurrent validity, same-day US, blinded assessor, standardized protocol
- Concurrent validity
- Same-day US
- Blinded assessor
- Standardized protocol
Performance
As reported in the abstract
Inter-device agreement (Cohen's kappa) vs gold-standard
| Test or model | Doppler activity κ | Erosions κ | Tendon inflammation κ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarius-L15 | 0.42 | 0.57 | 0.16 |
| Clarius-L20 | 0.37 | 0.62 |
Doppler activity κ
Clarius-L150.42
Clarius-L200.37
Erosions κ
Clarius-L150.57
Clarius-L200.62
Tendon inflammation κ
Clarius-L150.16
Clarius-L20— not stated in the abstract
- Synovitis detection: moderate agreement between devices
- κ = 0.46-0.50
- Tendon inflammation: no-fair agreement (second device)
- −0.05
Further findings
Per-patient agreement (intraclass correlation (ICC)) vs gold-standard
- Clarius-L15: poor (GLOESS) and moderate (Doppler) agreement
- Clarius-L20: good (GLOESS) and moderate (Doppler) agreement
Original publication
Validation of Handheld Ultrasound Devices for Point-of-Care Use in Rheumatology: Focus on Synovitis, Doppler Activity, Erosions, and Tendon Lesions. J Rheumatol. Published 15 September 2026. doi:10.
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