ASSESSMENT OF SCOLIOSIS USING THREE-DIMENSIONAL RADIOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS.

Scoliosis is a threat to the health and well-being of a significant minority of the population. Current methods for quantitating scoliosis have important shortcomings. Hence, a radiographic method has been developed to determine the location of each vertebra in three dimensions. The patient stands in a reference frame while posteroanterior and posterior oblique radiographs of the spine are obtained. A computerized system analyzes the radiographs to produce a three-dimensional description of the spine. An associated computer graphics module allows the operator to view the spine from any angle. Rotation of vertebral bodies, offsets and measures of curvature are calculated.