A Semi-Automatic Algorithm for Estimating Cobb Angle
Journal Title: Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering - Year 2019, Vol 9, Issue 3
Abstract
Background: Scoliosis is the most common type of spinal deformity. A universal and standard method for evaluating scoliosis is Cobb angle measurement, but several studies have shown that there is intra- and inter- observer variation in measuring cobb angle manually. Objective: Develop a computer- assisted system to decrease operator-dependent errors in Cobb angle measurement. Methods: The spinal cord in the given x-ray image of the spine is highlighted using contract-stretching technique. The overall structural curvature of the spine is determined by a semi-automatic algorithm aided by the operator. Once the morphologic curve of the spine is determined, in the last step the cobb-angle is estimated by calculating the angle between two normal lines to the spinal curve at the inflection points of the curve. Results: Evaluation results of the developed algorithms using 14 radiographs of patients (4 - 40 years old) with cobb angle ranges from 34 - 82 degrees, revealed that the developed algorithm accurately estimated cobb angle. Statistical analysis showed that average angle values estimated using the developed method and that provided by experts are statistically equal. The correlation coefficient between the angle values estimated using the developed algorithm and those provided by the expert is 0.81. Conclusion: Compared with previous algorithms, the developed system is easy to use, less operator-dependent, accurate, and reliable. The obtained results are promising and show that the developed computer-based system could be used to quantify scoliosis by measuring Cobb angle. Citation: Safari A, Parsaei H, Zamani A, Pourabbas B. A Semi-Automatic Algorithm for Estimating Cobb Angle. J Biomed Phys Eng. 2019;9(3):317-326. https://doi.org/10.31661/jbpe.v9i3Jun.730.
Authors and Affiliations
H. Parsaei, A. Safari, B. Pourabbas
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP613580
- DOI -
- Views 124
- Downloads 0
Thyroid Ultrasonography in Differentiation between Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis
Purpose: Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis are the most common causes of hyper and hypothyroidism, respectively. Differentiation of these 2 diseases, if the patient is euthyroid, may sometimes be extremely diff...
Detection and Characterization of Human Teeth Caries Using 2D Correlation Raman Spectroscopy
Background: Carious lesions are formed by a complex process of chemical interaction between dental enamel and its environment. They can cause cavities and pain, and are expensive to fix. It is hard to characterize in viv...
An Efficiency Studying of an Ion Chamber Simulation Using Vriance Reduction Techniques with EGSnrc
Background: Radiotherapy is an important technique of cancer treatment using ionizing radiation. The determination of total dose in reference conditions is an important contribution to uncertainty that could achieve 2%....
Expression Levels of Two DNA Repair-related Genes under 8 Gy Ionizing Radiation and 100 Mg/Kg Melatonin Delivery In Rat Peripheral Blood
Background: After radiation therapy (RT), some health hazards including DNA damages may occur where melatonin can play a protective role due to free radical generation. On the other hand, serious accidental overexposures...
Biological Effect of Modern Fetal Ultrasound Techniques on Human Dermal Fibroblast Cells
Background: Diagnostic ultrasound has been used to detect human disease especially fetus abnormalities in recent decades. Although the harmful effects of diagnostic ultrasound on human have not been established so far, s...