Spine Deformity Patients With Optoelectronic Motion Capture

Aging and degeneration can lead to changes in the spine, causing adult spinal deformities like loss of lumbar lordosis, thoracic hyperkyphosis, and scoliosis. Severe deformities can be highly debilitating, necessitating treatments. Surgery using instrumentation, such as pedicle screws, rods, and cages, can effectively correct adult spine deformities. However, complications and failures are common.

Precise pre-operative planning based on standing X-rays is crucial before attempting correction. Radiographic parameters, including pelvic incidence (PI), sagittal vertical axis (SVA), lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis, coronal Cobb angles, and vertebral rotation, are measured to evaluate the patient's standing posture and compensatory mechanisms.

Limitations in traditional radiological imaging for spinal alignment assessment include ionizing radiation exposure and lack of information on dynamic spine responses during various activities. To address these limitations, marker-based optoelectronic motion analysis systems have been proposed to characterize dynamic spinal alignment and movement during different activities. This technology has shown promise in assessing spinal curvature changes reliably.

This research aims to investigate the feasibility of using optoelectronic motion analysis systems to characterize spinal alignment and balance in patients with adult spine deformity. The primary objective is to assess the practical implementation, measurement capability, and resources required for motion analysis. Secondary objectives include exploring potential strategies to compensate for errors in absolute spinal curvature assessment due to markers on soft tissue.

The study will recruit 20 patients seeking medical attention for adult spine deformities (divided into non-operated and operated subgroups) and 10 healthy controls. Participants will undergo biplanar imaging and motion analysis to capture static and dynamic spine alignment during various activities. The data obtained will be used to build patient-specific musculoskeletal models, offering potential insights into improving surgical planning for adult spine deformities.

The findings of this study may lead to advancements in understanding spinal deformities and help in developing personalized treatment strategies to improve outcomes for patients suffering from adult spine deformities.

Inclusion criteria

• both male and female subjects
• BMI < 30 kg/m2
• cognitively intact
• degenerative spinal deformity presenting with at least one criterion:

• Coronal Cobb angle ≥20°
• sagittal vertical axis (SVA) ≥5 cm
• thoracic kyphosis (TK) ≥60°
• pelvic tilt (PT) ≥25°.

Exclusion criteria

• age under 18 years or over 75 years
• any prior spinal surgery or other musculoskeletal surgery having an impact on movement
• pregnancy
• inability to perform the planned set of daily activities
• inability to give consent.