Digital X-ray Image Processing Algorithms for Clinical Parameters Extraction

In the clinical field a very common problem relative to the monitoring of scoliosis status and progression is the extraction of the main characteristics from a xray image. In fact, the Cobb as well as Lordosis and Kyphosis angles are world-wide used parameters to quantify scoliosis and spine deformities severity level. The measure of these parameters is usually manually obtained by the orthopaedic surgeon. This leads to a series of problems and to a great variability of the measurements obtained due to the quality of the x-ray measurements, the experience of the surgeon, the media used for the computation and so on [1]. The aim of the paper is to present an image processing procedure based on a computer vision methodology in order to reduced the uncertainty and the variability of the measure of the various angles of interest.