Elsevier, Journal of Orthopaedic Translation, 3(3), p. 123-133, 2015
DOI: 10.1016/j.jot.2015.06.001
Full text: Download
Background/Objective: Standing radiograph with Cobb's method is routinely used to diagnose scoliosis, a medical condition defined as a lateral spine curvature > 10° with concordant vertebral rotation. However, radiation hazard and two-dimensional (2-D) viewing of 3-D anatomy restrict the application of radiograph in scoliosis examination. ; Methods: In this study, a freehand 3-D ultrasound system was developed for the radiation-free assessment of scoliosis. Bony landmarks of the spine were manually extracted from a series of ultrasound images with their spatial information recorded to form a 3-D spine model for measuring its curvature. To validate its feasibility, invivo measurements were conducted in 28 volunteers (age: 28.0±13.0 years, 9 males and 19 females). A significant linear correlation (R2=0.86; p