3D Anatomical Representations and Analysis: an Application to the Spine

Abstract: This work proposes a framework for the patient-specific characterization of the spine, which integrates information on the tissues with geometric information on the spine morphology. Key elements are the extraction of 3D patient-specific models of each vertebra and the intervertebral space from 3D CT images, the segmentation of each vertebra in its three functional regions, and the analysis of the tissue condition in the functional regions based on geometrical parameters. The localization of anomalies obtained in the results and the proposed visualization support the applicability of our tool for quantitative and visual evaluation of possible damages, for surgery planning, and early diagnosis or follow-up studies. Finally, we discuss the main properties of the proposed framework in terms of characterisation of the morphology and pathology of the spine on benchmarks of the spine district.