VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES

Objective measurement of coronal vertebral inclination (CVI) is of significant importance for evaluating spinal deformities in the coronal plane. The purpose of this study is to systematically analyze and compare manual and computerized measurements of CVI in cross-sectional and volumetric computed...

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Main Authors: Tomaž Vrtovec, Franjo Pernuš, Boštjan Likar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Slovenian Society for Stereology and Quantitative Image Analysis 2015-06-01
Series:Image Analysis and Stereology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ias-iss.org/ojs/IAS/article/view/1334
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author Tomaž Vrtovec
Franjo Pernuš
Boštjan Likar
author_facet Tomaž Vrtovec
Franjo Pernuš
Boštjan Likar
author_sort Tomaž Vrtovec
collection DOAJ
description Objective measurement of coronal vertebral inclination (CVI) is of significant importance for evaluating spinal deformities in the coronal plane. The purpose of this study is to systematically analyze and compare manual and computerized measurements of CVI in cross-sectional and volumetric computed tomography (CT) images. Three observers independently measured CVI in 14 CT images of normal and 14 CT images of scoliotic vertebrae by using six manual and two computerized measurements. Manual measurements were obtained in coronal cross-sections by manually identifying the vertebral body corners, which served to measure CVI according to the superior and inferior tangents, left and right tangents, and mid-endplate and mid-wall lines. Computerized measurements were obtained in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D) by manually initializing an automated method in vertebral centroids and then searching for the planes of maximal symmetry of vertebral anatomical structures. The mid-endplate lines were the most reproducible and reliable manual measurements (intra- and inter-observer variability of 0.7° and 1.2° standard deviation, SD, respectively). The computerized measurements in 3D were more reproducible and reliable (intra- and inter-observer variability of 0.5° and 0.7° SD, respectively), but were most consistent with the mid-wall lines (2.0° SD and 1.4° mean absolute difference). The manual CVI measurements based on mid-endplate lines and the computerized CVI measurements in 3D resulted in the lowest intra-observer and inter-observer variability, however, computerized CVI measurements reduce observer interaction.
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spelling doaj.art-f3cadd4e69d44d40a3f6b50f909029382022-12-21T20:11:05ZengSlovenian Society for Stereology and Quantitative Image AnalysisImage Analysis and Stereology1580-31391854-51652015-06-0134319920810.5566/ias.1334934VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGESTomaž Vrtovec0Franjo Pernuš1Boštjan Likar2University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Laboratory of Imaging TechnologiesUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Laboratory of Imaging TechnologiesUniversity of Ljubljana, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Laboratory of Imaging TechnologiesObjective measurement of coronal vertebral inclination (CVI) is of significant importance for evaluating spinal deformities in the coronal plane. The purpose of this study is to systematically analyze and compare manual and computerized measurements of CVI in cross-sectional and volumetric computed tomography (CT) images. Three observers independently measured CVI in 14 CT images of normal and 14 CT images of scoliotic vertebrae by using six manual and two computerized measurements. Manual measurements were obtained in coronal cross-sections by manually identifying the vertebral body corners, which served to measure CVI according to the superior and inferior tangents, left and right tangents, and mid-endplate and mid-wall lines. Computerized measurements were obtained in two dimensions (2D) and in three dimensions (3D) by manually initializing an automated method in vertebral centroids and then searching for the planes of maximal symmetry of vertebral anatomical structures. The mid-endplate lines were the most reproducible and reliable manual measurements (intra- and inter-observer variability of 0.7° and 1.2° standard deviation, SD, respectively). The computerized measurements in 3D were more reproducible and reliable (intra- and inter-observer variability of 0.5° and 0.7° SD, respectively), but were most consistent with the mid-wall lines (2.0° SD and 1.4° mean absolute difference). The manual CVI measurements based on mid-endplate lines and the computerized CVI measurements in 3D resulted in the lowest intra-observer and inter-observer variability, however, computerized CVI measurements reduce observer interaction.http://www.ias-iss.org/ojs/IAS/article/view/1334computed tomographycomputerized measurementscoronal vertebral inclinationmanual measurementsmeasurement variability
spellingShingle Tomaž Vrtovec
Franjo Pernuš
Boštjan Likar
VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
Image Analysis and Stereology
computed tomography
computerized measurements
coronal vertebral inclination
manual measurements
measurement variability
title VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
title_full VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
title_fullStr VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
title_full_unstemmed VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
title_short VARIABILITY OF MANUAL AND COMPUTERIZED METHODS FOR MEASURING CORONAL VERTEBRAL INCLINATION IN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IMAGES
title_sort variability of manual and computerized methods for measuring coronal vertebral inclination in computed tomography images
topic computed tomography
computerized measurements
coronal vertebral inclination
manual measurements
measurement variability
url http://www.ias-iss.org/ojs/IAS/article/view/1334
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