Ultrasound Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Inclusion criteria

• Males and Females aged 18 and over.
• Must carry a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, as defined by the American College of Rheumatology in 2010: (https://www.rheumatology.org/Portals/0/Files/2010_revised_criteria_classification_ra.pdf).

Classification as "definite RA" is based on the confirmed presence of synovitis in at least one joint, absence of an alternative diagnosis that better explains the synovitis, and achievement of a total score of 6 or greater (of a possible 10) from the individual scores in 4 domains: number and site of involved joints (score range 0-5), serologic abnormality (score range 0-3), elevated acute-phase response (score range 0-1), and symptom duration (2 levels; range 0-1).

• Exhibiting symptoms or signs of inadequate disease control according to one of 2 measures:

Modified HAQ score of greater than 0.3 and DAS28-CRP greater than 3.2 (http://www.phusewiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Disease_Activity_Score_-_CRP_(DAS-CRP).

• Participants should have home access to broadband internet, such that online video conversations can occur with study personnel via study-provided personal digital assistive devices.

Exclusion criteria

• Active bacterial or viral infection.
• Pregnant women or presence of active malignancy.
• Inability to perform minimal daily self-cares associated with feeding/dressing, according to HAQ.