A method to measure acetabular metrics from three dimensional computed tomography pelvis reconstructions - biomed 2009.

ABSTRACT

Acetabular dysplasia is a proposed cause of osteoarthritis of the hip and techniques to identify acetabular dysplasia are important in early diagnosis and prevention of osteoarthritis of the hip. The aim of this study is to develop a method to measure acetabular coverage and volume using computed tomography (CT) images. A software program was used to create three-dimensional models of the acetabulum and femoral head and measure the acetabular volume of each hip from CT images. The three-dimensional models of the acetabulum and femoral head were imported into a post-processing software program to determine the surface areas for the femoral head covered by the acetabulum and the acetabular area covering the femoral head. Using CT scans gathered from 35 individuals, the results of this study demonstrated that the two surface area measurements were linearly correlated with the acetabulum volume. Positive linear relationships with R-squared values of 0.53 and 0.64 were found when comparing the acetabulum volume with the surface area of the femoral head covered by the acetabulum and the surface area of the acetabular area covering the femoral head. The method presented in this study for measuring acetabular coverage and volume using CT images could be used for the development of a more reliable method of diagnosing acetabular dysplasia.