Vertebral axial rotation measurement method

This study presents a new method for measuring axial rotation of vertebra. Anatomical landmarks of the vertebral body were first recognized in X-ray film. By employing appropriate geometrical relationships, vertebral body shape parameters and a computer iteration method, the rotation angle of vertebra on the transverse plane can rapidly be obtained. A cadaver lumbar spine axial rotation-fixation device was designed to confirm the accuracy of the proposed methodology. Rotation angles on CT images were adopted as the golden standard and compared with analytical results based on X-ray films. Analytical results demonstrated that the proposed method obtained more accurate and reliable results than previous methods.