3D Surface Topographic Scans Yield Reliable Spine Range of Motion Measurements in Adolescents
By Admin | March 06, 2023
LAS VEGAS, March 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cameras that can scan an entire body in a fraction of a second can give spinal surgeons an accurate assessment of how much range of motion youth with scoliosis have in their torso – a critical piece of information for guiding management of people with the condition, researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City have found.
Spine specialists at HSS have been using a 30-camera array, called 3dMD, in the lab for several years, but the new study shows that the system produces clinically meaningful information. Because 3dMD does not rely on ionizing radiation, the technology may help adolescents with scoliosis avoid many of the repeated and potentially harmful x-rays that conventional care requires.
"Determining spinal range of motion is a lot more difficult than it sounds," said Roger Widmann, MD, chief of the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Service at HSS and co-principal investigator on the new study. The conventional gold standard has been the use of x-ray imaging; however, x-ray tests are expensive, and long-term exposure to radiation from the scans has been linked to cancers.
The new technology provides a "safe, repeatable, inexpensive measurement of spinal range of motion that can be used in both a research and clinical setting," Dr. Widmann said.
Information from the 3dMD scans can help spine surgeons determine the optimal approach to operative treatments and allow them to better track the progress of scoliosis patients following surgery. "The technology gives you objective measures of range of motion so you can improve your surgical decision-making," Dr. Widmann said.
The HSS team presented their findings today at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in a poster titled "3D Surface Topographic Optical Scans Yield Highly Reliable Spine Range of Motion Measurements in Adolescents."
The 30-camera array can generate...(More)
For more info please read, 3D Surface Topographic Scans Yield Reliable Spine Range of Motion Measurements in Adolescents, by PR Newswire