An automatic measurement method of spinal curvature on ultrasound coronal images in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Abstract

This study proposed a new automatic measurement method of spinal curvature on ultrasound coronal images in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). After preprocessing of Gaussian enhancement, the symmetric information of the image was extracted using the phase congruency. Then bony features were segmented from the soft tissues and background using the greyscale polarity. The morphological methods of image erosion and top-bottom-hat transformation, and geometric moment were utilized to identify the spinous column profile from the transverse processes. Finally, the spine deformity curve was obtained using robust regression. In-vivo experiments based on AIS patients were performed to evaluate the performance of the developed method. The comparison results revealed there was a significant correlation (y = 0.81x, r = 0.86) and good agreement between the new automatic method and the manual measurement method. It can be expected that this novel method may help to provide effective and objective deformity assessment method during the ultrasound scanning for AIS patients.