Quantifying in vivo scaphoid, lunate, and capitate kinematics using four-dimensional computed tomography

We aimed to establish a quantitative description of motion patterns and establish test-retest reliability of the four-dimensional CT when quantifying in vivo kinematics of the scaphoid, lunate, and capitate.

We assessed in vivo kinematics of both wrists of 20 healthy volunteers (11 men and 9 women) between the ages of 20 and 40 years. All volunteers performed active flexion-extension and radial-ulnar deviation with both wrists. To test for reliability, one motion cycle was rescanned for both wrists approximately 15 min after the first scan. The coefficient of multiple correlation was used to analyze reliability. When two motion patterns are similar, the coefficient of multiple correlation tends towards 1, whereas in dissimilar motion patterns, it tends towards 0. The root mean square deviation was used to analyze the total motion patterns variability between the two scans.

Overall, mean or median coefficient of multiple correlations were higher than 0.86. The root mean square deviations were low and ranged from 1.17° to 4.29°.

This innovative non-invasive imaging technique can reliably describe in vivo carpal kinematics of uninjured wrists in healthy individuals. It provides us with a better understanding and reference values of carpal kinematics of the scaphoid, lunate, and capitate.