Abstract-The oldest and most accurate way of determining the shape of the spine is to make X-rays from two different angles, which can be performed once a year even in serious diseases, due to its high radiation exposure. However, in case of a conservative treatment of spinal disorders, continuous monitoring is necessary, thus different in-vivo methods are being developed, like optical (Moiré method), electromagnetic (SpinalTouch) and ultrasound based (Zebris) measuring devices, which can record the shape of spine without radiation exposure. The spinal curvature by the equation of a curve fitted on measured points of spine and by the complementary angles characterizing the spinal curvatures (thoracic and lumbar) derived from these aforementioned curves. Zebris and SpinalTouch measurements of 73 healthy patients -, aged between 10 and 15 -were the basis of the comparison. According to the results, the characterizing angles derived from the curves shows a high correlation (0.86-0.90) with the angles calculated with the traditional method, thus the application of these measurement methods and processing procedures can be reasonable.
The oldest and most precise way to determine the curvatures of the spine is two directional X-ray measurement from the sagittal and coronal planes. By using X-ray, patients are exposed to radiation, which limits the repeatability of the measurements even in serious deformities, thus X-ray is not applicable for frequent monitoring. Therefore new alternative non-invasive radiation-free measurement systems appeared, which measure the external shape of the spine on the back surface. The goal of the present study is to validate the new tangential calculation method by Cobb method based radiographic analysis and by two other alternative calculation methods. In the study 22 young patients suffering from scoliotic deformities are examined. Thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis and scoliotic deformity, as the three characterizing angles of spinal curvatures, are calculated by four different methods. The results show that the newly developed tangent line method could be applicable for the evaluation of spinal curvatures.
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