Development of Novel Imaging and Image Modeling Techniques for the Assessment andQuantification of Inter-Vertebral Motion Using MRI

MAHATO, NILADRI KUMAR, Ph.D., August 2016, Biological Sciences Development of Imaging and Image Modeling Techniques for the Assessment and Quantification of Inter-Vertebral Motion Using MRI Director of Dissertation: Brian C. Clark Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability worldwide with more than eight hundred billion dollars of direct and indirect costs associated with LBP being incurred annually in the US alone. About 80-90% of all LBP patients do not have a definitive diagnosis of the etiology of pain, and are grouped under the non-specific LBP cohort. A group of such patients with unspecified etiology for their back pain are believed to have their LBP due to un-controlled and often, more than normal segmental motion involving one or more of their lumbar vertebrae. As such, many surgical treatments for LBP are directed at reducing inter-vertebral motion at and around an affected segment. The most common approaches for quantifying vertebral motion are based on radiographic assessments, which in many cases preclude scientific inquiry (e.g., use of high radiation equipment is not permitted for scientific investigations in some states, and, even when permitted, presents a major roadblock for serial assessments). This project was undertaken to develop and examine the feasibility, reliability and accuracy of a technique that used magnetic resonance (MR) images, custom built 3-D models and animations of spine-segment motion to quantify displacements in a calibrated imaging space. Experiment 1 explored the feasibility of developing an MRI-based spine kinematics quantification technique that involved (i) creating MRI compatible solid-body objects, (ii) scanning axial images of the objects in the MRI machine to create static 3-D virtual models of the solid-bodies, (iii) scanning the solid bodies as they were displaced