The use of Roentgen stereophotogrammetry to study micromotion of orthopaedic implants

Abstract

Roentgen stereophotogrammetry is the most accurate Roentgen technique for three-dimensional assessment of micromotion of orthopaedic implants. The reported accuracy of Roentgen Stereophotogrammetric Analysis (RSA) ranges between 0.05 and 0.5 mm for translations and between 0.15° and 1.15° for rotations. Because of the high accuracy of RSA, small patient groups are in general sufficient to study the effect on prosthetic fixation due to changes in implant design, addition of coatings, or new bone cements. By assessing micromotion of a prosthesis in a short-term (i.e. 2 years) clinical RSA study, a prediction can be made on the chance of long-term (i.e. 10 years) loosening of the prosthesis. Therefore, RSA is an important measurement tool to screen new developments in prosthetic design, and to prevent large groups of patients from being exposed to potentially inferior designs. In this article, the basics of the RSA technique are explained, and the importance of clinical RSA studies is illustrated with two examples of clinical RSA studies which RSA delivered very valuable information. Thereafter, two recent developments in RSA that have been implemented at Leiden University Medical Center are presented: digital automated measurements in RSA radiographs and model-based RSA.