Reproducibility and repeatability of the Myoton to quantify sclerotic chronic graft-versus-host disease

Nosha Farhadfar; Najla El Jurdi; Kelsey K. Baker; Shramana Ghosh; Mongoljin Bat-Erdene; Heidi Chen; Ruchi Sahu; Rachel Weiss; Jerry Mi; Gabriela Desatnik; Lacey R. Williams; Eric R. Tkaczyk; Stephanie J. Lee

doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2025016648

Reproducibility and repeatability of the Myoton to quantify sclerotic chronic graft-versus-host disease

Nosha Farhadfar
, Najla El Jurdi
, Kelsey K. Baker
, Shramana Ghosh
, Mongoljin Bat-Erdene
, Heidi Chen
, Ruchi Sahu
, Rachel Weiss
, Jerry Mi
, Gabriela Desatnik
, Lacey R. Williams
, Eric R. Tkaczyk
, Stephanie J. Lee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

There is an urgent need for validated tools to measure sclerotic cutaneous chronic graft-versus-host disease (scGVHD). We examined the interobserver reproducibility within a session and intraobserver repeatability between sessions of the Myoton device for quantifying skin sclerosis in 36 adults with scGVHD. The Myoton was used to measure oscillation frequency and relaxation time of soft tissues at 7 bilateral sites (14 anatomic sites) by 2 study personnel at 2 study sessions. Agreement was measured using mean pairwise absolute difference (MPD), and reliability was measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). For each of the 2 Myoton parameters, the overall interobserver MPD was <5% of the average overall values and the interobserver ICC was >0.90 between the 2 observers, indicating excellent agreement and reliability within a measurement session. The median time between sessions 1 and 2 was 47.5 days. The overall normalized intraobserver MPD was <7% of the average overall values for each of the 2 Myoton parameters, reflecting good agreement between sessions. The intraobserver ICC for frequency and relaxation time parameters were 0.85 and 0.84, respectively, indicating good reliability between sessions. The reproducibility and repeatability of a bonus site selected at each study visit were similar to the standard 14 anatomic sites. However, no individual site was nearly as reproducible or repeatable as the overall Myoton measurements averaged across the patient. Our findings emphasize the utility of the Myoton for assessing skin properties in scGVHD with patient-level measurements.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1145-1152
Number of pages	8
Journal	Blood Advances
Volume	10
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2025016648
State	Published - Feb 24 2026
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This work was supported by the Career Development Award IK2 CX001785 (E.R.T.) and US Department of Veterans Affairs Merit award I01 CX002721 (E.R.T.) from the US Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Research & Development Service; and by grants R01 HL169944 (primary investigator [PI]: E.R.T.), R01 CA118953 (PI: S.J.L.), and U01 CA236229 (PI: S.J.L.) from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH). This research was also supported, in part, by the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Intramural Research Program of the NIH. This work was supported by the Career Development Award IK2 CX001785 (E.R.T.) and US Department of Veterans Affairs Merit award I01 CX002721 (E.R.T.) from the US Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Research & Development Service; and by grants R01 HL169944 (primary investigator [PI]: E.R.T.), R01 CA118953 (PI: S.J.L.), and U01 CA236229 (PI: S.J.L.) from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, National Institutes of Health (NIH). This research was also supported, in part, by the Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Intramural Research Program of the NIH. The contributions of the NIH author(s) were made as part of their official duties as NIH federal employees, are in compliance with agency policy requirements, and are considered Works of the US government. However, the findings and conclusions presented in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NIH or the US Department of Health and Human Services. Contribution: S.J.L. E.R.T. N.F. and N.E.J. contributed to the conception and design; S.G. M.B.-E. G.D. L.R.W. R.S. R.W. and J.M. contributed to the data collection, extraction, and verification; K.K.B. and H.C. contributed to the data analysis; all authors contributed to the interpretation; N.F. E.R.T. and S.J.L. contributed to the manuscript writing and draft preparation; and all authors helped revise the manuscript and gave final approval.

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title = "Reproducibility and repeatability of the Myoton to quantify sclerotic chronic graft-versus-host disease",

abstract = "There is an urgent need for validated tools to measure sclerotic cutaneous chronic graft-versus-host disease (scGVHD). We examined the interobserver reproducibility within a session and intraobserver repeatability between sessions of the Myoton device for quantifying skin sclerosis in 36 adults with scGVHD. The Myoton was used to measure oscillation frequency and relaxation time of soft tissues at 7 bilateral sites (14 anatomic sites) by 2 study personnel at 2 study sessions. Agreement was measured using mean pairwise absolute difference (MPD), and reliability was measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). For each of the 2 Myoton parameters, the overall interobserver MPD was <5\% of the average overall values and the interobserver ICC was >0.90 between the 2 observers, indicating excellent agreement and reliability within a measurement session. The median time between sessions 1 and 2 was 47.5 days. The overall normalized intraobserver MPD was <7\% of the average overall values for each of the 2 Myoton parameters, reflecting good agreement between sessions. The intraobserver ICC for frequency and relaxation time parameters were 0.85 and 0.84, respectively, indicating good reliability between sessions. The reproducibility and repeatability of a bonus site selected at each study visit were similar to the standard 14 anatomic sites. However, no individual site was nearly as reproducible or repeatable as the overall Myoton measurements averaged across the patient. Our findings emphasize the utility of the Myoton for assessing skin properties in scGVHD with patient-level measurements.",

author = "Nosha Farhadfar and \{El Jurdi\}, Najla and Baker, \{Kelsey K.\} and Shramana Ghosh and Mongoljin Bat-Erdene and Heidi Chen and Ruchi Sahu and Rachel Weiss and Jerry Mi and Gabriela Desatnik and Williams, \{Lacey R.\} and Tkaczyk, \{Eric R.\} and Lee, \{Stephanie J.\}",

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AU - Ghosh, Shramana

AU - Bat-Erdene, Mongoljin

AU - Chen, Heidi

AU - Sahu, Ruchi

AU - Weiss, Rachel

AU - Mi, Jerry

AU - Desatnik, Gabriela

AU - Williams, Lacey R.

AU - Tkaczyk, Eric R.

AU - Lee, Stephanie J.

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AB - There is an urgent need for validated tools to measure sclerotic cutaneous chronic graft-versus-host disease (scGVHD). We examined the interobserver reproducibility within a session and intraobserver repeatability between sessions of the Myoton device for quantifying skin sclerosis in 36 adults with scGVHD. The Myoton was used to measure oscillation frequency and relaxation time of soft tissues at 7 bilateral sites (14 anatomic sites) by 2 study personnel at 2 study sessions. Agreement was measured using mean pairwise absolute difference (MPD), and reliability was measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). For each of the 2 Myoton parameters, the overall interobserver MPD was <5% of the average overall values and the interobserver ICC was >0.90 between the 2 observers, indicating excellent agreement and reliability within a measurement session. The median time between sessions 1 and 2 was 47.5 days. The overall normalized intraobserver MPD was <7% of the average overall values for each of the 2 Myoton parameters, reflecting good agreement between sessions. The intraobserver ICC for frequency and relaxation time parameters were 0.85 and 0.84, respectively, indicating good reliability between sessions. The reproducibility and repeatability of a bonus site selected at each study visit were similar to the standard 14 anatomic sites. However, no individual site was nearly as reproducible or repeatable as the overall Myoton measurements averaged across the patient. Our findings emphasize the utility of the Myoton for assessing skin properties in scGVHD with patient-level measurements.

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ER -

Reproducibility and repeatability of the Myoton to quantify sclerotic chronic graft-versus-host disease

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