Application of Particle Filter for Vertebral body Extraction: A Simulation Study

Hongyan Cui, Xiaobo Xie, Shengpu Xu, Yong Hu

1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, PR China; 2Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The University of Hong Kong..
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin, PR China.

DOI: 10.4236/jcc.2014.22009                

Abstract

Lumbar vertebra motion analysis provides objective measurement of lumbar disorder. The automatic tracking algorithm has been applied to Digitalized Video Fluoroscopy (DVF) sequence. This paper proposes a new Auto-Tracking System (ATS) with a guide device and a motion analysis to automatically measure human lumbar motion. Digitalized Video Fluoroscopy (DVF) sequence was obtained during flexion-extension lumbar movement under guide device. An extraction of human vertebral body and its motion tracking were developed by particle filter. The results showed a good repeatability, reliability and robustness. In model test, the maximum fiducial error is 3.7% and the repeatability error is 1.2% in translation and the maximal repeatability error is 2.6% in rotation angle. In this simulation study, we employed a lumbar model to simulate the motion of lumber flexion- extension with the stepping translation of 1.3 mm and rotation angle of 1°. Results showed that the fiducial error was measured as 1.0%, while the repeatability error was 0.7%. The sequence can be detected even noise contamination as more as 0.5 of the density. The result demonstrates that the data from the auto-tracking algorithm shows a strong correlation with the actual measurement and that the Vertebral Auto-Tracking System (VATS) is highly repetitive. In the human lumbar spine evaluation, the study not only shows the reliability of Auto-Tracking Analysis System (ATAS), but also reveals that it is robust and variable in vivo. The VATS is evaluated by the model, the simulated sequence and the human subject. It could be concluded that the developed system could provide a reliable and robust system to detect spinal motion in future medical application.

Keywords

Vertebral Auto-Tracking System (VATS); Particle Filter; Sequential Important Resampling; Lumbar Spine; Vertebral Body

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	O. Shirado, T. Ito, K. Kaneda and T. E. Stra, “Flexion-Relaxation Phenomenon in the Back Muscles: a Comparative-Study between Healthy Subjects and Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain,” American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Vol. 74, No. 2, 1995, pp. 139-144.
[2]	M. M. Panjabi and A. A. White, “Kinematics of the Spine,” In: M. M. Panjabi and A. A. White, Eds., Clinical Biomechanics of the Spine, 2nd Edition, J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, 1990, pp. 85-126.
[3]	J. W. Frymoyer and D. K. Selby, “Segmental Instability: Rationale for Treatment,” In: G. R. Bell, S. W. Wiesel, J. N. Weinstein, H. N. Herkowitz and J. Dvorak, Eds., The Lumbar Spine, 2nd Edition, W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1996, pp. 43-52.
[4]	F. Ringel, M. Stoffel, C. Stüer and B. Meyer, “Minimally Invasive Transmuscular Pedicle Screw Fixation of the Thoracic and Lumbar Spine,” Neurosurgery, Vol. 59, No. 4, 2006, pp. ONS-361-ONS-367.
[5]	J. M. Olsewski, E. H. Simmons, F. C. Kallen, F. C. Mendel, C. M. Severin and D. L. Berens, “Morphometry of the Lumbar Spine: Anatomical Perspectives Related to Transpedicular Fixation,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery American, Vol. 72, No. 4, 1990, pp. 541-549.
[6]	M. M. Panjabi, V. Goel, T. Oxland, K. Takata, J. Duran- ceau, M. Krag, et al., “Human Lumbar Vertebrae: Quantitative Three-Dimensional Anatomy,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 17, No. 3, 1992, pp. 299-306.
[7]	M. M. Panjabi, K. Takata, V. Goel, D. Federico, T. Oxland, J. Duranceau, et al., “Thoracic Human Vertebrae. Quantitative Three-Dimensional Anatomy,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 16, No. 8, 1991, pp. 888-901.
[8]	S. W. Lee, K. W. Wong, M. K. Chan, H. M. Yeung, J. L. Chiu and J. C. Leong, “Development and Validation of a New Technique for Assessing Lumbar Spine Motion,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 27, No. 8, 2002, pp. E215- E20.
[9]	D. S. Teyhen, T. W. Flynn, A. C. Bovik and L. D. Abraham, “A New Technique for Digital Fluoroscopic Video Assessment of Sagittal Plane Lumbar Spine Motion,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 30, No. 14, 2005, pp. E406- E413.
[10]	A. Breen, R. Allen and A. Morris, “A Digital Video Flu- oroscopic Technique for Spine Kinematics,” Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology, Vol. 13, No. 1-2, 1989, pp. E109-E113. http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/03091908909030208
[11]	D. Vander Kooi, G. Abad, J. R. Basford, T. P. Maus, M. J. Yaszemski and K. R Kaufman, “Lumbar Spine Stabilization with a Thoraco-lumbosacral Orthosis: Evaluation with Video Fluoroscopy,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 29, No. 1, 2004, pp. 100-104.
[12]	A. C. Breen, R. Allen and A. Morris, “Spine Kkinematics: a Digital Videofluoroscopic Technique,” Journal of biomedical engineering, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1989, pp. 224-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0141-5425(89)90146-5
[13]	K. Ta-kayanagi, K. Takahashi, M. Yamagata, H. Moriya, H. Kitahara and T. Tamaki, “Using Cineradiography for Continuous Dynamic-motion Analysis of the Lumbar Spine,” Spine, Vol. 26, No. 17, 2001, pp. 1858-1865.
[14]	M. Panjabi and D. Chang, “An Analysis of Errors in Kinematic Parameters Associated with in Vivo Functional Radiographs,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 17, No. 2, 1992, pp. 200-205.
[15]	Y. Zheng, M. S. Nixon and R. Allen, “Automated Segmentation of Lumbar Vertebrae in Digital Videofluoroscopic Images,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, Vol. 23, No. 1, 2004, pp. 45-52.
[16]	S. C. B. Lam, B. McCane and R. Allen, “Automated Tracking in Digitized Videofluoroscopy Sequences for Spine Kinematic Analysis,” Image and Vision Computing, Vol. 27, No. 10, 2009, pp. 1555-1571.
[17]	P. Bifulco, M. Cesarelli, R. Allen and M. Bracale, “Automatic Extraction of Kinematic Parameters from Videofluoroscopic Sequences of the Spine,” Proceedings of Health Telematics, Naples, 1995, pp. 147-148.
[18]	J. M. Muggleton and R. Allen, “Automatic Location of Vertebrae in Digitized Videofluoroscopic Images of the Lumbar Spine,” Medical Engineering & Physics, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1997, pp. 77-89.
[19]	A. Thorkeldsen and A. C. Breen, “Gray Scale Range and the Marking of Vertebral Coordinates on Digitized Radiographic Images,” Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, Vol. 17, No. 6, 1994, pp. 359-363.
[20]	C. Cardan and R. Allen, “Measurement of Spine Motion for Diagnosis of Mechanical Problems,” Journal of Computer Simulation & Modelling in Medicine, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2000, pp. 15-19.
[21]	A. Okawa, K. Shinomiya, H. Komori, T. Muneta, Y. Arai, and O. Nakai, “Dynamic Motion Study of the Whole Lumbar Spine by Videofluoroscopy,” Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol. 23, No. 16, 1998, pp. 1743-1749.