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A continuous point measure for quantifying skull deformation in medical diagnostics
Herbert F Jelinek1, Ben Strachan2, Bridget O'Connor3
1Australian School of Advanced Medicine , Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia ; Department of Biomedical Engineering , Khalifa University , Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates ; Centre for Research in Complex Systems and School of Community Health , Charles Sturt University , Albury , Australia.
Insights
Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) is diagnosed using a new wavelet-based method. This approach offers more sensitive skull asymmetry analysis than traditional methods, aiding in infant diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Pediatric Health
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) is a skull deformity in infants due to sustained sleeping positions.
- Current diagnostic methods like the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) use limited points and may underestimate severity.
- There is a need for more sensitive and objective methods to assess infant skull asymmetry.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a novel computer-based, continuous-point method for assessing infant skull asymmetry.
- To compare the sensitivity of mean bending energy (MBE) derived from wavelets against CVAI.
- To explore the potential of wavelet analysis for diagnosing DP and monitoring treatment.
Main Methods:
- Skull circumference outlines from infants with confirmed cranial deformity were analyzed.
- The Hermitian wavelet transform was used to calculate mean bending energy (MBE).
- MBE was correlated with the traditional cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI).
Main Results:
- Mean bending energy (MBE) showed a correlation with the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI).
- The wavelet-based method demonstrated higher sensitivity to skull contour variations.
- MBE provides quantitative and visual data, potentially improving DP diagnosis.
Conclusions:
- Wavelet-based continuous-point estimation of skull asymmetry is a sensitive and objective method for diagnosing DP.
- This technique can detect mild deformities and track treatment progress more effectively than CVAI.
- The method has broader applications in analyzing other structural pathologies in clinical practice.
Abstract:
Deformational plagiocephaly (DP) manifests in a deformed skull primarily caused by retaining a constant sleeping position in infants. Manual measures of skull asymmetry based on MRI or CT scans combined with the cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) provides information on the extent of asymmetry. CVAI uses four points on the skull as markers for the asymmetry index but tends to underestimate the deformity because of the lack of sampling points. Computer-based continuous-point methods may be a more objective measure with better sensitivity for the skull contour. The outline of the skull circumference of infants with confirmed cranial deformity was obtained from the literature and analysed applying the mean bending energy (MBE) obtained from the Hermitian wavelet. MBE was shown to correlate with CVAI in the current sample and has the potential to add both quantitative and visual information in 2D or 3D space for the clinician to diagnose DP. Wavelet-based continuous-point estimation of skull asymmetry is a useful method as it is more sensitive to mild deformation anywhere along the skull outline and in assessing slow but progressive improvement as a result of treatment. The broader significance is that this method can be applied to other structural pathology analysis in clinical practice.
