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Validation of an Anatomical Coordinate System for Clinical Evaluation of the Knee Joint in Upright and Closed MRI

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Abstract

A computerized method to automatically and spatially align joint axes of in vivo knee scans was established and compared to a fixed reference system implanted in a cadaver model. These computational methods to generate geometric models from static MRI images with an automatic coordinate system fitting proved consistent and accurate to reproduce joint motion in multiple scan positions. Two MRI platforms, upright and closed, were used to scan a phantom cadaver knee to create a three-dimensional, geometric model. The knee was subsequently scanned in several positions of knee bending in a custom made fixture. Reference markers fixed to the bone were tracked by an external infrared camera system as well as by direct segmentation from scanned images. Anatomical coordinate systems were automatically fitted to the segmented bone model and the transformations of joint position were compared to the reference marker coordinate systems. The tracked translation and rotation measurements of the automatic coordinate system were found to be below root mean square errors of 0.8 mm and 0.7°. In conclusion, the precision of the translation and rotational tracking is found to be sensitive to the scanning modality, albeit in upright or closed MRI, but still within comparative measures to previously performed studies. The potential to use segmented bone models for patient joint analysis could vastly improve clinical evaluation of disorders of the knee with continual application in future three-dimensional computations.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Orthopaedic Department of the Hannover Medical School and no outside grant funds were procured. A special thanks is given to Dr. Med. Thorsten Schulze for providing scanning time at the Upright Radiology Center. Also a thank you to Mr. Breyvogel at the Hannover Medical School workshop for constructing and improving the specimen holding device.

Conflict of interest

There authors confirm that there are no known financial relations that would pose a conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Biomechanics and Biomaterials (LBB), Hannover Medical School, Haubergstraße 3, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Gavin Olender, Christof Hurschler, Benjamin Fleischer & Andreas Sukau

  2. Department for Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Marcel Gutberlet

  3. Welfenlab, Institute of Man-Machine-Communication, Leibniz University Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167, Hannover, Germany

    Karl-Ingo Friese

  4. Orthopaedic Department, Hannover Medical School, Anna-von-Borries-Str. 1-7, 30625, Hannover, Germany

    Christoph Becher

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  1. Gavin Olender
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Correspondence to Gavin Olender.

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Associate Editor Scott I Simon oversaw the review of this article.

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Olender, G., Hurschler, C., Fleischer, B. et al. Validation of an Anatomical Coordinate System for Clinical Evaluation of the Knee Joint in Upright and Closed MRI. Ann Biomed Eng 42, 1133–1142 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-0980-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-0980-1

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