Grant: Project Grant

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a complex 3D deformation of the trunk, with a prevalence of 1 - 3% in the general population. Among AIS patients, 8%-9% will be treated by brace and about 1 / 1,000 will need corrective spinal surgery. Patient monitoring requires X-ray examinations at least every six months, more often during the maximal growth spurt, even though most patients' spinal curvatures will not progress to requiring conservative treatment such as physiotherapy specific scoliosis exercises (PSSE), bracing or surgery. In practice, clinical tests are performed for the assessment of the trunk mobility to guide the therapeutic approach. However, those tests cannot provide specific information on the mobility patterns of the trunk segments and on postural compensations while the person is performing specific movements. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop quantitative tools to assess scoliotic trunk mobility. Our main objective is to develop a method to evaluate scoliotic trunk mobility utilizing dynamic surface topography (ST) technology to capture the 3D dynamic back shape. We will evaluate this approach in terms of its predictive value for treatment outcomes and examine how this can help in AIS management. Our specific objectives are to: 1) Propose a method exploiting dynamic ST to assess deformations in back shape as the patient performs prescribed movements. 2) Exploit the dynamic ST acquisitions to calibrate the parameters of a simulator predicting the effect of spinal surgery on the whole trunk shape. 3) Examine how the trunk mobility features can allow clinicians to make more timely treatment decisions. Once validated, the developed tool will be a valuable decisional aid for AIS treatment and will enhance our understanding of the effect of scoliosis on the shape dynamics of the trunk. In the longer term, this research can increase patient involvement with their treatment, and reduce the number of radiographic exams required during monitoring.