Abstract
The determination of the position and rotation of vertebrae is important for the understanding of normal and pathological spine anatomy. Existing techniques, however, estimate the position and rotation parameters from two-dimensional (2D) planar cross-sections, are relatively complex and require a relatively large amount of manual interaction. We have developed an automated and modality-independent method for the determination of the position and rotation of vertebrae in three dimensions (3D) that is based on registration of image intensity gradients, extracted in 3D from symmetrical vertebral parts. The method was evaluated on 52 vertebrae; 26 were acquired by computed tomography (CT) and 26 by magnetic resonance (MR). The results show that by the proposed gradient-based registration of symmetrical vertebral parts, the position and rotation of vertebrae in 3D can be successfully determined in both CT and MR spine images. As the position and rotation of vertebrae in 3D are among the most important spine parameters, the proposed method may provide valuable support in the evaluation of deformities and disease processes that affect the spine.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cobb, J.: Outline for the study of scoliosis. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Instructional Course Lectures 5, 261–275 (1948)
Shea, K., Stevens, P., Nelson, M., Smith, J., Masters, K., Yandow, S.: A comparison of manual versus computer-assisted radiographic measurement: Intraobserver measurement variability for Cobb angles. Spine 23(5), 551–555 (1998)
Chockalingam, N., Dangerfield, P., Giakas, G., Cochrane, T., Dorgan, J.: Computer-assisted Cobb measurement of scoliosis. European Spine Journal 11(4), 353–357 (2002)
Stokes, I., Aronsson, D.: Computer-assisted algorithms improve eliability of King classification and Cobb angle measurement of scoliosis. Spine 31(6), 665–670 (2006)
Bernhardt, M., Bridwell, K.: Segmental analysis of the sagittal plane lignment of the normal thoracic and lumbar spines and thoracolumbar junction. Spine 14(7), 717–721 (1989)
Polly, D., Kilkelly, F., McHale, K., Asplund, L., Mulligan, M., Chang, A.: Measurement of lumbar lordosis: Evaluation of intraobserver, interobserver, and technique variability. Spine 21(13), 1530–1535 (1996)
Harrison, D., Harrison, D., Cailliet, R., Janik, T., Holland, B.: Radiographic analysis of lumbar lordosis: Centroid, Cobb, TRALL, and Harrison posterior tangent methods. Spine 26(11), E235–E242 (2001)
Pinel-Giroux, F.M., Mac-Thiong, J.M., de Guise, J., Berthonnaud, E., Labelle, H.: Computerized assessment of sagittal curvatures of the spine: Comparison between Cobb and tangent circles techniques. Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques 19(7), 507–512 (2006)
Aaro, S., Dahlborn, M.: Estimation of vertebral rotation and the spinal and rib cage deformity in scoliosis by computer-tomography. Spine 6(5), 460–467 (1981)
Ho, E., Upadhyay, S., Chan, F., Hsu, L., Leong, J.: New methods of measuring vertebral rotation from computed tomographic scans: An intraobserver and interobserver study on girls with scoliosis. Spine 18(9), 1173–1177 (1993)
Skalli, W., Lavaste, F., Descrimes, J.L.: Quantification of three-dimensional vertebral rotations in scoliosis: What are the true values? Spine 20(5), 546–553 (1995)
Krismer, M., Sterzinger, W., Christian, H., Frischhut, B., Bauer, R.: Axial rotation measurement of scoliotic vertebrae by means of computed tomography scans. Spine 21(5), 576–581 (1996)
Birchall, D., Hughes, D., Hindle, J., Robinson, L., Williamson, J.: Measurement of vertebral rotation in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging. Spine 22(20), 2403–2407 (1997)
Hecquet, J., Legaye, J., Duval-Beaupère, G.: Access to a three-dimensional measure of vertebral axial rotation. European Spine Journal 7(3), 206–211 (1998)
Kouwenhoven, J.W., Vincken, K., Bartels, L., Castelein, R.: Analysis of preexistent vertebral rotation in the normal spine. Spine 31(13), 1467–1472 (2006)
Rogers, B., Haughton, V., Arfanakis, K., Meyerand, E.: Application of image registration to measurement of intervertebral rotation in the lumbar spine. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 48(6), 1072–1075 (2002)
Benameur, S., Mignotte, M., Labelle, H., De Guise, J.: A hierarchical statistical modeling approach for the unsupervised 3-D biplanar reconstruction of the scoliotic spine. IEEE Transactions on Bio-medical Engineering 52(12), 2041–2057 (2005)
Adam, C., Askin, G.: Automatic measurement of vertebral rotation in idiopathic scoliosis. Spine 31(3), E80–E83 (2006)
Molnár, S., Manó, S., Kiss, L., Csernátony, Z.: Ex vivo and in vitro determination of the axial rotational axis of the human thoracic spine. Spine 31(26), E984–E991 (2006)
Petit, Y., Aubin, C.E., Labelle, H.: Spinal shape changes resulting from scoliotic spine surgical instrumentation expressed as intervertebral rotations and centers of rotation. Journal of Biomechanics 37(2), 173–180 (2004)
Vrtovec, T., Likar, B., Pernuš, F.: Determination of 3D location and rotation of lumbar vertebrae in CT images by symmetry-based auto-registration. In: Pluim, J., Reinhardt, J. (eds.) Proceedings of the SPIE Medical Imaging 2007: Image Processing Conference, vol. 6512. SPIE (2007) 65121Q–1
Masharawi, Y., Salame, K., Mirovsky, Y., Peleg, S., Dar, G., Steinberg, N., Hershkovitz, I.: Vertebral body shape variation in the thoracic and lumbar spine: Characterization of its asymmetry and wedging. Clinical Anatomy 21(1), 46–54 (2008)
Mac-Thiong, J., Labelle, H., Vandal, S., Aubin, C.: Intra-operative tracking of the trunk during surgical correction of scoliosis: A feasibility study. Computer Aided Surgery 5(5), 333–342 (2000)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Vrtovec, T. (2008). Modality-Independent Determination of Vertebral Position and Rotation in 3D. In: Dohi, T., Sakuma, I., Liao, H. (eds) Medical Imaging and Augmented Reality. MIAR 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5128. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79982-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-79982-5_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-79981-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-79982-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)