A novel rapid measurement method of cervical sagittal parameters based on the integrated inclinometer of a smartphone: a validity and reliability study.

Objectives: A new method was introduced using a smartphone's integrated inclinometer for rapid measurement of sagittal cervical parameters. The present study aims to compare the validity and reliability of the proposed method.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 120 patients with cervical spondylosis treated at our hospital. The C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1-slope (T1S), and neck tilt (NT) were selected as representative sagittal angles for this study. Two methods, the smartphone's integrated inclinometer and picture archiving and communication system (PACS), were used to measure these four representative angles. Validity, reliability, and measurement times were recorded and compared.Results: The representative parameters (C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1S, and NT), the ICC was 0.957 (0.939-0.970), 0.971 (0.958-0.979), 0.974 (0.963-0.982) and 0.949 (0.927-0.964) for validity respectively. For the aforementioned representative parameters, the ICC values were 0.972 (0.960-0.980), 0.979 (0.969-0.985), 0.972 (0.959-0.980), 0.942 (0.917-0.959) for intraobserver reliability respectively. For the representative parameters mentioned above, the ICC values were 0.947 (0.926-0.963), 0.964 (0.949-0.975), 0.956 (0.938-0.969), 0.916 (0.881-0.940) for interobserver reliability respectively. For the validity of the representative parameters mentioned above, the Bland-Altman plot displayed a mean difference of 0.2, 0.1, 0.1, and 0.4°with a 95% CI of 4.3, 4.5, 3.4, and 4.1°, respectively. The measurement by smartphone's integrated inclinometer (46.31 ± 3.99 s) was significantly quicker than that by PACS (69.48 ± 3.25 s) according to independent-samples T test (p < 0.001).Conclusion: This novel smartphone measurement based on the integrated inclinometer is accurate and reliable for measuring cervical sagittal parameters rapidly and conveniently.

Sagittal parameters of the cervical spine have been widely applied in many types of spinal disorders for disease diagnosis, assessment, classification, treatment choice, and follow-up, so accurate, rapid, and convenient measurement of cervical sagittal parameters is important.Traditional measurement of sagittal parameters of the cervical spine have their own disadvantages.This novel smartphone measurement based on the integrated inclinometer is accurate and reliable for measuring cervical sagittal parameters rapidly and conveniently.

Selection of bone graft type for the surgical treatment of thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis based on the spinal instability neoplastic score: a retrospective single-center cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to establish a standard for selecting bone graft type for thoracolumbar spinal tuberculosis surgery based on the spinal instability neoplastic score (SINS). METHODS: Patients with thoracolumbar tuberculosis who underwent one-stage debridement posteriorly and instrumentation were divided into a structural bone graft group (SBG) (51 cases) and a non-structural bone graft group (NSBG) (54 cases) according to their SINS. SBG was performed when the SINS was ≥ 13 and NSBG was performed when it was 7 ≤ SINS ≤ 12. Baseline data, clinical outcomes, and imaging outcomes were collected and statistically analyzed between the two groups. RESULTS: Significant improvements in clinical and imaging outcomes were achieved in both groups. Compared to the SBG group, the operation time of the NSBG group was shorter, the intraoperative blood loss of the NSBG group was less, the bone fusion time of the NSBG group was faster. CONCLUSION: Non-structural and structural bone grafting can achieve comparable therapeutic effects in patients with spinal tuberculosis, and a suitable selection of bone grafts based on quantitative SINS will make full use of the advantages of different bone grafts.

Validity and reliability of a novel iPhone method to rapidly measure cervical sagittal parameters.

We introduced a novel method based on the iPhone's intrinsic photo edit function to measure sagittal parameters of the cervical spine. This study aimed to assess the validity of this new method compared with the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) method (the gold standard) and to test the reliability of this novel technique. One hundred consecutive patients admitted to our hospital diagnosed with cervical spondylotic myelopathy or cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were retrospectively reviewed. Four angles, including the C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1S and neck tilt (NT), were assessed by iPhone and PACS. The validity and reliability were evaluated, and the time taken by both methods was compared. The ICCs of the validity of the C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1S and NT were 0.960, 0.976, 0.980 and 0.946, respectively. The ICCs of the intraobserver reliability of the C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1S and NT were 0.966, 0.983, 0.971 and 0.951, respectively. The ICCs of the interobserver reliability of the C0-2 Cobb angle, C2-7 Cobb angle, T1S and NT were 0.953, 0.972, 0.957 and 0.929, respectively. The Bland‒Altman plot of validity of the four angles revealed mean differences of 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.1 degrees with 95% CIs of 4.1, 4.1, 2.9, and 4.3 degrees, respectively. The iPhone measurement time (58.55 ± 4.17 s) was significantly less than that by the PACS (70.40 ± 2.92 s) when compared by the independent-samples T test (P < 0.001). This novel method using the iPhone's intrinsic photo edit function is accurate, reliable, fast and convenient when measuring cervical sagittal parameters.