3D Surface Topographic Optical Scans Yield Highly Reliable Global Spine Range of Motion Measurements in Scoliotic and Non-Scoliotic Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis results in three dimensional changes to a patient’s body, which may change a patient’s range of motion. Surface topography is an emerging technology to evaluate three dimensional parameters in patients with scoliosis. The goal of this paper is to introduce novel and reliable surface topographic measurements for the assessment of global coronal and sagittal range of motion of the spine in adolescents, and to determine if these measurements can distinguish between adolescents with lumbar scoliosis and those without scoliosis. Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort study of a prospectively collected registry. Using a surface topographic scanner, a finger to floor and lateral bending scans were performed on each subject. Inter- and intra-rater reliabilities were assessed for each measurement. ANOVA analysis was used to test comparative hypotheses. Results: Inter-rater reliability for lateral bending fingertip asymmetry (LBFA) and lateral bending acromia asymmetry (LBAA) displayed poor reliability, while the coronal angle asymmetry (CAA), coronal angle range of motion (CAR), forward bending finger to floor (FBFF), forward bending acromia to floor (FBAF), sagittal angle (SA), and sagittal angle normalized (SAN) demonstrated good to excellent reliability. There was a significant difference between controls and lumbar scoliosis patients for LBFA, LBAA, CAA and FBAF (p-values < 0.01). Conclusion: Surface topography yields a reliable and rapid process for measuring global spine range of motion in the coronal and sagittal planes. Using these tools, there was a significant difference in measurements between patients with lumbar scoliosis and controls. In the future, we hope to be able to assess and predict perioperative spinal mobility changes.

Non-Invasive Assessment of Back Surface Topography: Technologies, Techniques and Clinical Utility

“…However, the results of the optoelectronic apparatus appear to be negatively influenced slightly by the marker system, whereas the Kinect™ apparatus benefitted from the implementation of marker placement. Another motion capture method reported to be complementary to diagnostic imaging is the 3dMD scanner which uses cameras to capture video technology at 10 frames per second at a speed of 1.7 mm/s [66]. Motion capture technology (Vicon and Kinect™) as well as the 3dMD scanner and Scolioscan has yet to be used to assess the implications of scoliosis on dynamic tasks.…”