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CTM brace effect on scoliotic intervertebral discs using MRI method.

MRI has been clinically only used for investigation of intervertebral disc disorders. In this study, MR images were used and a new 3D modelling of the intervertebral discs was proposed. MRI examination had been performed on fourteen girls presenting an idiopathic scoliosis and wearing a first CTM brace. Using an in-house image processing software and the pre-post processing software Patran, geometrical models were obtained with and without brace for each patient. These models included the outline of the intervertebral high intensity zone, composed of the nucleus and a part of the annulus. The shift forward between disc high intensity zone centres and body centres was found to be varying from 0 to 8mm. The sagittal and coronal shifts forward appeared in the curvature convexity and were maximum at the curvature apex. The intervertebral disc wedging was found to be varying from -10 degrees to +10 degrees. On these fourteen analysed patients, the CTM brace decreased the coronal shift forward between disc high intensity zone centres and body centres, and increased the sagittal intervertebral wedging. The intervertebral disc informations obtained represented new data in the scoliotic deformation description. But this method was not adapted for a clinical use. The qualitative and quantitative data obtained will help the orthopaedist in the brace design and also the clinician in the scoliosis comprehension.