Software platform for visualization and evaluation of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most common peripheral neuropathies due to the compression of the median nerve. Improvements in magnetic resonance imaging have allowed visualization of the anatomy of the carpal tunnel and the possibility of assessing eventual abnormalities associated with CTS. This work presents a software platform for interactive visualization and enhanced evaluation of the carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), based on MRI. The software platform provides a fully scalable real-time 3D reconstruction of the tendons and the median nerve, allowing multiplanar reformatting, realistic visualization of the integrity of myelin sheath, and colour enhancement, without the use of contrast agents. The software platform is based on a methodology which provides metrics and measurement tools for different parameters, including median nerve location, size and flattening, but also nerve adjacency and local deformation shape measures. The proposed methodology was experimentally evaluated. The group of 60 persons (half of whom were patients with CTS) were involved in the evaluation process, conducted by a radiologist with more than 15 years of experience in the field, who was blinded to the clinical information of the patients. The results of this study showed that the developed software and the MR imaging of the carpal tunnel structures can be used as a valuable tool for CTS evaluation and detection, and it can also help in planning of surgery or revealing the CTS etiology.