Lai Alon, Chow Daniel H K, Siu W S, Holmes Andrew D, Tang F H
Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, PR China.
Med Eng Phys. 2007 Sep;29(7):814-9. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2006.08.013. Epub 2006 Oct 4.
Quantification of changes in intervertebral disc height is critical for studying intervertebral disc degeneration. Reliability of disc height measurement is therefore especially important for in vivo studies using animal models of disc degeneration. In this study, the effects of image intensity and percentage of disc width used for disc height measurement from radiographic images were evaluated in a rat-tail model. Radiographs were taken for 10 Sprague-Dawley rats using a standardized protocol. Average disc heights of the caudal 8-9 discs were determined using original and intensity adjusted images with different percentages of disc width. The average disc height was found to be significantly affected by both the image intensity and the percentage of disc width measured. A higher reliability was found in the measurement for image with adjusted intensity and using smaller disc width. Image intensity is suggested to be controlled and the disc width should be taken into account in quantifying the disc height.
椎间盘高度变化的量化对于研究椎间盘退变至关重要。因此，椎间盘高度测量的可靠性对于使用椎间盘退变动物模型的体内研究尤为重要。在本研究中，在大鼠尾巴模型中评估了图像强度和用于从X线图像测量椎间盘高度的椎间盘宽度百分比的影响。使用标准化方案对10只Sprague-Dawley大鼠进行X线摄影。使用原始图像和强度调整后的图像以及不同百分比的椎间盘宽度确定尾侧8-9个椎间盘的平均高度。发现平均椎间盘高度受图像强度和测量的椎间盘宽度百分比的显著影响。在强度调整后的图像和使用较小椎间盘宽度的测量中发现了更高的可靠性。建议在量化椎间盘高度时控制图像强度并考虑椎间盘宽度。
