Muggleton J M, Allen R
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Southampton, UK.
Med Eng Phys. 1997 Jan;19(1):77-89. doi: 10.1016/s1350-4533(96)00050-1.
Back pain is a widespread problem, and the disability it engenders continues to grow, despite efforts to contain it. A major problem in the diagnosis and management of back pain is the assessment of the degree to which mechanical factors play a part. Of considerable importance in understanding these mechanical factors is being able to quantify how the human spine actually moves in vivo. Digitized videofluoroscopy is currently the only practical method available for studying spinal motion in vivo at the segmental level. Low-dose, planar motion X-rays of the spine are captured on videotape and subsequently digitized for analysis. Until now, vertebrae in the digitized images were identified and marked manually as a basis for calculating intervertebral kinematics. This paper describes a procedure for automatically identifying the vertebrae in the motion sequences. The process increases objectivity and repeatability, and significantly reduces the manual effort required in locating the vertebrae prior to calculating the kinematics. The technique has been applied to images of a calibrated model and the results are promising. In-plane rotations may be calculated to an accuracy of at least 1 degree. Repeated analysis reveals standard deviations of less than 0.5 degree for intervertebral rotations and less than 0.25 mm for translations.
背痛是一个普遍存在的问题，尽管人们努力控制它，但它所导致的残疾情况仍在不断增加。背痛诊断和管理中的一个主要问题是评估机械因素在其中所起作用的程度。对于理解这些机械因素而言，能够量化人体脊柱在体内的实际运动方式至关重要。数字化视频荧光检查法是目前唯一可用于在节段水平研究体内脊柱运动的实用方法。脊柱的低剂量平面运动X射线被录制在录像带上，随后进行数字化分析。到目前为止，数字化图像中的椎骨是通过手动识别和标记的，以此作为计算椎间运动学的基础。本文描述了一种在运动序列中自动识别椎骨的程序。该过程提高了客观性和可重复性，并显著减少了在计算运动学之前定位椎骨所需的人工工作量。该技术已应用于校准模型的图像，结果很有前景。平面内旋转的计算精度至少可达1度。重复分析显示，椎间旋转的标准差小于0.5度，平移的标准差小于0.25毫米。
