Development of 3-D ultrasound system for assessment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS): And system validation

Abstract

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a common spinal disease and the prevalence of AIS is 2 to 4 % of the youngsters in the United States. Radiograph based Cobb's method is regarded as the gold standard. AIS patients normally have to undergo regular X-ray assessment every 4 to 6 months until skeletal maturity is reached. Because of radiation hazard, X-ray images cannot be taken frequently, and thus it is difficult to perform close monitoring for the disease progression and treatment outcomes. In this study, a free-hand 3D ultrasound imaging system has been successfully developed for the radiation-free assessment of AIS. A series of B-mode ultrasound images with their spatial information were exploited to form a spine model for measuring the spine curvature. Sixteen spine phantoms with different simulated deformity were scanned by both conventional X-ray imaging and the 3D ultrasound system. The results showed that there was a strong correlation (R(2) = 0.759) between the Cobb's angles obtained by the two methods. The results also demonstrated a very good intra- and inter-observer reproducibility with ICC of 0.99 and 0.89, repectively. The findings suggest that it is feasible to use 3D ultrasound imaging for the assessment of scoliosis and deserves further clinical tests on patients with spine deformity.

Ultrasound Volume Projection Imaging for Assessment of Scoliosis

“…The results demonstrated that the new measurement method could provide reliable spine curvature measurement with performance comparable to that by X-ray Cobb's method. Unlike the previous method using landmarks observed in separate ultrasound B-mode images [13,[19][20][21], the proposed measurement method was to measure the spine curvature with the visualization of whole spine, reducing the measurement error and eliminating the searching of US B-mode images with corresponding bony features.…”

“…Recently, freehand 3D ultrasound, combining conventional B-mode ultrasound with position sensor, has been advanced to overcome the limitations of 2D viewing of 3D anatomy [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. The spine curvature was estimated through manually locating the transverse processes in some ultrasound images with 3D spatial information.…”

“…The spine curvature was estimated through manually locating the transverse processes in some ultrasound images with 3D spatial information. These ultrasound images were manually selected from a pile of 2D raw B-mode images or captured with accurately locating the target from observations [19][20][21]. However, this approach required the transverse processes to be identified in dozens of ultrasound images, which is time-consuming and subjective.…”

Influence of pelvic asymmetry and idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents on postural balance during sitting

“…It has been reported that approximately 4% of adolescents between the ages of 10 and 18 have idiopathic scoliosis [1][2][3]. However, its pathogenesis remains unknown.…”

Confidence Weighted Local Phase Features for Robust Bone Surface Segmentation in Ultrasound

“…Intraoperative US could also supplement fluoroscopy-based procedures, such as pelvic fracture fixation [2,3]. In pediatric orthopaedics, Cheung et al [4] demonstrated the potential benefits of US imaging in routine checkups of scoliosis patients. Furthermore, in spine imaging, US bone surface extraction was shown to be promising for needle-insertion applications [5].…”