Automated measurement of spinopelvic alignment parameters using a spine planning software: a validation study

Area of Science:

• Spine surgery
• Medical imaging analysis
• Orthopedic biomechanics

Background:

• Accurate spinopelvic alignment assessment is critical for managing adult spinal deformities.
• Current manual measurement methods can be time-consuming and prone to variability.
• Validation of automated software tools is essential for improving clinical workflows.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Brainlab Elements Spine Planning software for automated spinopelvic parameter measurement.
• To compare the accuracy and reliability of automated measurements against manual methods.
• To assess the time efficiency of the automated software.

Main Methods:

• Spinopelvic parameters were measured manually and using the Brainlab software in 21 patients with degenerative spinal disease.
• Accuracy, intraobserver, and interobserver reliability were assessed using Bland-Altman plots and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).
• Measurement times for both methods were compared.

Main Results:

• The software demonstrated high reliability (ICC=1), with strong agreement with manual measurements.
• Automated measurements were significantly faster (62s vs. 227s, p<0.001).
• However, the software failed to automatically measure at least one parameter in 76.2% of cases, particularly the sagittal vertical axis (SVA) and coronal parameters.

Conclusions:

• The Brainlab Elements software provides accurate, reproducible, and time-efficient measurements for parameters it successfully captures.
• The software's current limitations in automatically measuring SVA and coronal parameters necessitate further refinement.
• Despite limitations, the software shows promise for streamlining spinopelvic alignment assessment in clinical practice.