Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper is focused on meeting the demands for better detection and evaluation of the spinal deformities that go beyond a basic static 3D analysis. It is expected that by observing the spine while it moves an improved 3D deformity analysis and measurements can be achieved. In this paper, we present a novel approach for the automatic back symmetry curve sensing. Our approach can be used in the back shape analysis of many different positions, i.e. segments of the dynamic motion, and is not limited only to the upright standing position. The proposed method is based on the 3D surface reconstruction, surface curvature analysis and graph theoretic approach for the (semi-)automatic detection of the symmetry curve. In addition, we introduce a 3D scanning system which was used in our experiment to successfully generate 3D back surface reconstructions for each frame of the captured forward bending motion. We also tested the proposed method on the data collected using commercial 3D spine analysis system and the results were comparable. The additional experiment focusing on the dynamic analysis demonstrated that the proposed method can enable further advances in the automatic 3D back surface analysis by tracking the spine position throughout performed movements.
Highlights
Spinal deformities are a growing problem in today’s society due to the current sedentary lifestyle
The Diers Formetric analysis includes the detection of anatomical landmarks, computer-generated 3D spine model based on the surface curvature estimation and back surface reconstruction
The second experiment was designed to test how the proposed method performs when analysing 3D reconstructions in dynamic conditions. In this experiment we investigated the movement most frequently used in physical examinations for spinal deformities – the standing forward bending motion
Summary
Spinal deformities are a growing problem in today’s society due to the current sedentary lifestyle. Children with diagnosed signs of the deformity are in general referred to a hospital where radiographs are taken These radiographs are usually 2D assessments which do not take the full 3D deformity into account, there are some examples of using biplanar radiographs to compute the 3D shape of the spine [7]. Systems for the 3D body surface reconstruction and its analysis are extremely useful for the diagnostics of spinal deformity, since they can provide repeatability of measurements (reducing the influence of physician’s variability) and allow an objective comparison of two measurements performed in a certain time interval, e.g. when monitoring progression or treatment success. Along with the proposed approach to 3D scanning in dynamics, we present a method which can detect a symmetry curve of the back and surpass the analysis of the back in the pure upright standing position. We present our experiments in the “Results and discussion” section which is followed by a short conclusion
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