Three-dimensional laser scanning as a reliable and reproducible diagnostic tool in breast cancer related lymphedema rehabilitation: a proof-of-principle study.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to assess the reproducibility and reliability of a three-dimensional laser scanner (3DLS) in measuring the upper limb volume of BRCL women undergoing a 2-week complete decongestive therapy (CDT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

3DLS and CM were used to measure the upper limb volume in a cohort of BCRL women before (T0) and after (T1) a 2-week CDT. We evaluated: a) correlation between 3DLS and CM at both time points; b) level of agreement and the consistency of the different measurements at both time points; c) correlation between the inter-rater operator analysis in terms of total limb volume differences before and after rehabilitative treatment of both circumferential method and laser scanning 3D in breast cancer related lymphedema patients.

RESULTS

Taken together, 43 BCRL women (age 51.1 ± 5.4 years) were included. Both 3DLS and CM showed a significant inter and intra-operator correlation in the arm volume measurement at both time-points (T0: r2=0.99, p<0.0001; T1: r2=0.99, p<0.0001). 3DLS showed a strong correlation with CM (r2=0.99, p<0.0001) in terms of volume measurement and provided greater intra-operator correlation (r2=0.92 vs. 0.62) in detecting volume variations after the treatment (T1-T0).

CONCLUSIONS

3DLS confirmed to be highly sensitive, cheap and easy-to-use in the evaluation of the upper limb volume in BCRL women before and after a rehabilitative treatment. These findings suggest that augmented reality technologies might be very useful in oncological rehabilitation.