BackgroundThe main objective of the present method was to automatically obtain a spatial curve of the thoracic and lumbar spine based on a 3D shape measurement of a human torso with developed scoliosis. Manual determination of the spine curve, which was based on palpation of the thoracic and lumbar spinous processes, was found to be an appropriate way to validate the method. Therefore a new, noninvasive, optical 3D method for human torso evaluation in medical practice is introduced.MethodsTwenty-four patients with confirmed clinical diagnosis of scoliosis were scanned using a specially developed 3D laser profilometer. The measuring principle of the system is based on laser triangulation with one-laser-plane illumination. The measurement took approximately 10 seconds at 700 mm of the longitudinal translation along the back. The single point measurement accuracy was 0.1 mm. Computer analysis of the measured surface returned two 3D curves. The first curve was determined by manual marking (manual curve), and the second was determined by detecting surface curvature extremes (automatic curve). The manual and automatic curve comparison was given as the root mean square deviation (RMSD) for each patient. The intra-operator study involved assessing 20 successive measurements of the same person, and the inter-operator study involved assessing measurements from 8 operators.ResultsThe results obtained for the 24 patients showed that the typical RMSD between the manual and automatic curve was 5.0 mm in the frontal plane and 1.0 mm in the sagittal plane, which is a good result compared with palpatory accuracy (9.8 mm). The intra-operator repeatability of the presented method in the frontal and sagittal planes was 0.45 mm and 0.06 mm, respectively. The inter-operator repeatability assessment shows that that the presented method is invariant to the operator of the computer program with the presented method.ConclusionsThe main novelty of the presented paper is the development of a new, non-contact method that provides a quick, precise and non-invasive way to determine the spatial spine curve for patients with developed scoliosis and the validation of the presented method using the palpation of the spinous processes, where no harmful ionizing radiation is present.

Following literature reviews by Ferguson and Marras (1997) and Rubin (2007), these authors summarised the risk factors for developing LBP in advanced age as being female, having a lower economic standard, lower education, smoking, frail health, physical work, repeated tasks, awkward body postures, lower job satisfaction, depression, spinal structure and visible spinal anomalies.

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BackgroundThe main purpose of this research was to develop a new method for differentiating between scoliotic and healthy subjects by analysing the curvatures of their spines in the cranio-caudal view.MethodsThe study included 247 subjects with physiological curvatures of the spine and 28 subjects with clinically confirmed scoliosis. The curvature of the spine was determined by a computer analysis of the surface of the back, measured with a non-invasive, 3D, laser-triangulation system. The determined spinal curve was represented in the transversal plane, which is perpendicular to the line segment that was defined by the initial point and the end point of the spinal curve. This was achieved using a rotation matrix. The distances between the extreme points in the antero-posterior (AP) and left-right (LR) views were calculated in relation to the length of the spine as well as the quotient of these two values LR/AP. All the measured parameters were compared between the scoliotic and control groups using the Student’s t-Test in case of normal data and Kruskal-Wallis test in case of non-normal data. Besides, a comprehensive diagram representing the distances between the extreme points in the AP and LR views was introduced, which clearly demonstrated the direction and the size of the thoracic and lumbar spinal curvatures for each individual subject.ResultsWhile the distances between the extreme points of the spine in the AP view were found to differ only slightly between the groups (p = 0.1), the distances between the LR extreme points were found to be significantly greater in the scoliosis group, compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The quotient LR/AP was statistically significantly different in both groups (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe main innovation of the presented method is the ability to differentiate a scoliotic subject from a healthy subject by assessing the curvature of the spine in the cranio-caudal view. Therefore, the proposed method could be useful for human posture diagnostics as well as to provide a long-term monitoring of scoliotic spine curvatures in preventive and curative clinical practice at all levels of health care.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate scales that are used to follow up on the condition and course of rehabilitation for an objective assessment of patients with multiple sclerosis. The most commonly used scale is the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) for obtaining information on neurological impairments. The main disadvantage of this scale is that it focuses a lot on the ability to walk and is not adequately sensitive for detecting the changes in the patient in time. The Functional Independence Measure (FIM) is the most commonly used scale in rehabilitation. It evaluates the ability of patients to perform daily activities, for example, feeding and dressing. In the study, we focused on the comparison of EDSS and FIM to ascertain the applicability of FIM in patients with multiple sclerosis.  Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 38 patients with multiple sclerosis by talking to the patients and reviewing the medical documentation where the EDSS evaluation was conducted. Then, we evaluated the patient using the FIM scale. The data were processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 25 software and displayed graphically using the Microsoft Excel program.  Results: The statistical analysis showed a strong negative correlation between EDSS and FIM (r = -0.731). The motor part of the FIM scale had a strong negative correlation with EDSS (r = -0.732). The cognitive part had a weak negative correlation (r = -0.262). The sex and the duration of the disease did not impact the FIM evaluation significantly. The age had a moderately strong negative correlation (r = -0.396).  Conclusion: We proposed that FIM was a useful scale for the routine evaluation of patients in the clinical environment.