Robust Pelvic Coordinate System Determination for Pose Changes in Multidetector-row Computed Tomography Images

Abstract

For developing navigation system of total hip arthroplasty (THA) and evaluating hip joint kinematics, 3-D pose position of the femur and acetabulum in the pelvic coordinate system has been quantified. The pelvic coordinate system is determined by manually indicating pelvic landmarks in multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) images. It includes intra- and inter-observer variability, and may result in a variability of THA operation or diagnosis. To reduce the variability of pelvic coordinate system determination, this paper proposes an automated method in MDCT images. The proposed method determines pelvic coordinate system automatically by detecting pelvic landmarks on anterior pelvic plane (APP) from MDCT images. The method calibrates pelvic pose by using silhouette images to suppress the affect of pelvic pose change. As a result of comparing with manual determination, the proposed method determined the coordinate system with a mean displacement of <TEX>$2.6\;{\pm}\;1.6$</TEX> mm and a mean angle error of <TEX>$0.78\;{\pm}\;0.34$</TEX> deg on 5 THA subjects. For changes of pelvic pose position within 10 deg, standard deviation of displacement was 3.7 mm, and of pose was 1.28 deg. We confirmed the proposed method was robust for pelvic pose changes.