Dr. Scott M. Paul, a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician, http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/rmd/index.html is conducting a clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of stereophotogrammetry at NIH’s Clinical Centers Rehabilitation Medicine Department.
Stereophotogrammetry is capable of generating a three-dimensional image of a patient using four sets of digital camera pods and analysis software as a tool to study physical deformities. The reason to use the new technology is that the existing methods for observing patients with scoliosis and other related chest and back conditions requires either x-ay scans which expose patients to ionizing radiation, or MRI scans.
According to Dr. Paul, “There are challenges in studying spine curves since you only get a two dimensional view via an x-ray or an altered three dimensional flat view with a CT or MRI. Stereophotogrammetry offers the potential to quickly provide 3-D views of spinal curvature of a standing patient without exposing the patient to the radiation of an x-ray.
The goal of the study is to refine the stereophotogrammetry process by collecting images and body data from healthy volunteers and patients with skeletal curvature and other bone conditions in the torso. Subsequently, researchers plan to apply similar algorithms to understand the differences in distribution of fat in individuals who are overweight or obese.
Dr. Paul and his team have already completed Phase I of the trial and have scanned 100 healthy volunteers over the course of two years. In Phase I, they found that there was little variability within the results of volunteers who did not have spinal curvatures.
The study is now in Phase II, and patients enrolled have already been diagnosed with scoliosis and other spine and chest conditions. The team is going to enroll up to 150 patients to scan using stereophotogrammetry to see if the system can distinguish a healthy volunteer from a person with scoliosis.
The team will study how these results compare to x-rays and hopefully this technique will be reliable to use to track and monitor changes in physical deformities over time. According to Dr. Paul, “We are trying to develop a reliable technique that can be used across the spectrum”.