Gulshan Sharma

Radiological method for measuring patellofemoral tracking and tibiofemoral kinematics before and after total knee replacement

Objectives Numerous complications following total knee replacement (TKR) relate to the patellofemoral (PF) joint, including pain and patellar maltracking, yet the options for in vivo imaging of the PF joint are limited, especially after TKR. We propose a novel sequential biplane radiological method that permits accurate tracking of the PF and tibiofemoral (TF) joints throughout the range of movement under weightbearing, and test it in knees pre- and post-arthroplasty. Methods A total of three knees with end-stage osteoarthritis and three knees that had undergone TKR at more than one year’s follow-up were investigated. In each knee, sequential biplane radiological images were acquired from the sagittal direction (i.e. horizontal X-ray source and 10° below horizontal) for a sequence of eight flexion angles. Three-dimensional implant or bone models were matched to the biplane images to compute the six degrees of freedom of PF tracking and TF kinematics, and other clinical measures. Results The mean and standard deviation for the six degrees of freedom of PF tracking and TF kinematics were computed. TF and PF kinematics were highly accurate (< 0.9 mm, < 0.6°) and repeatable. Conclusions The developed method permitted measuring of in vivo PF tracking and TF kinematics before and after TKR throughout the range of movement. This method could be a useful tool for investigating differences between cohorts of patients (e.g., with and without pain) impacting clinical decision-making regarding surgical technique, revision surgery or implant design.

Rigorous Geometric Self-Calibrating Bundle Adjustment for a Dual Fluoroscopic Imaging System

High-speed dual fluoroscopy is a noninvasive imaging technology for three-dimensional skeletal kinematics analysis that finds numerous biomechanical applications. Accurate reconstruction of bone translations and rotations from dual-fluoroscopic data requires accurate calibration of the imaging geometry and the many imaging distortions that corrupt the data. Direct linear transformation methods are commonly applied for performing calibration using a two-step process that suffers from a number of potential shortcomings including that each X-ray source and corresponding camera must be calibrated separately. Consequently, the true imaging set-up and the constraints it presents are not incorporated during calibration. A method to overcome such drawbacks is the single-step self-calibrating bundle adjustment method. This procedure, based on the collinearity principle augmented with imaging distortion models and geometric constraints, has been developed and is reported herein. Its efficacy is shown with a carefully controlled experiment comprising 300 image pairs with 48 507 image points. Application of all geometric constraints and a 31 parameter distortion model resulted in up to 91% improvement in terms of precision (model fit) and up to 71% improvement in terms of 3-D point reconstruction accuracy (0.3-0.4 mm). The accuracy of distance reconstruction was improved from 0.3±2.0 mm to 0.2 ±1.1 mm and angle reconstruction accuracy was improved from -0.03±0.55° to 0.01±0.06°. Such positioning accuracy will allow for the accurate quantification of in vivo arthrokinematics crucial for skeletal biomechanics investigations.

Validating Dual Fluoroscopy System Capabilities for Determining In‐Vivo Knee Joint Soft Tissue Deformation: A Strategy for Registration Error Management

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) causes structural and mechanical changes within tibiofemoral (TF) cartilage affecting tissue load deformation behavior. Quantifying in-vivo TF soft tissue deformations in healthy and early OA may provide a novel biomechanical marker, sensitive to alterations occurring prior to radiographic change. Dual Fluoroscopy (DF) allows accurate in-vivo TF soft tissue deformation assessment but requires validation. In-vivo healthy and early OA TF cartilage deforms 0.3-1.2mm during static standing full body-weight loading. Our aim was to establish minimum detectable displacement (MDD) for femoral translation in a DF system using a marker-based and markerless approach with variable image intensifier magnifications. An instrumented frame allowed controlled femur specimen translations. Bone positions were reconstructed from DF data using centroids of affixed steel beads (marker-based) and 2D-3D bone feature registration (markerless). Statistical analyses included independent samples t-tests and reliability analysis. Markerless measurements by three trained operators had large variations making it prudent to have an appropriate error management strategy when performing 2D-3D registration. Marker-based MDD improved with image resolution and was 0.05 mm at 3.2 LP/mm (LP: line pairs). Markerless MDD at 3.2 LP/mm was 0.08 mm. Average femur and tibia 2D-3D registrations yielded excellent reliability (84.4%). Therefore, DF images acquired at resolution greater than 3.2 LP/mm would be capable for determining accurate and reliable in-vivo healthy and early OA TF soft tissue deformation. This study provides a registration error management strategy for in-vivo TF soft tissue deformation assessment that could be applied for future clinical applications to establish non-invasive biomechanical markers for early OA diagnosis.

Kinematic Differences Between Gender Specific and Traditional Knee Implants

In the ongoing debate about gender-specific (GS) vs. traditional knee implants, there is limited information about patella-specific outcomes. GS femoral component features should provide better patellar tracking, but techniques have not existed previously to test this accurately. Using novel computed tomography and radiography imaging protocols, 15 GS knees were compared to 10 traditional knees, for the 6 degrees of freedom of the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joints throughout the range of motion, plus other geometric measures and quality of life (QOL). Significant differences were found for patellar medial/lateral shift, where the patella was shifted more laterally for the GS femoral component. Neither group demonstrated patellar maltracking. There were no other significant differences in this well-functioning group.

An application of algebraic method on MR T2 imaging of knee articular cartilage

The computation of relaxation time from quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging depends on the applied algorithms. The purpose of this project was to use the algebraic curve fitting algorithm to quantify T2 mapping of knee articular cartilage for T2 relaxation time calculation. The T2 images of a healthy male volunteers right knee tibiofemoral joint cartilage were generated by a 3T MR imaging scanner using a spin echo multislice multiecho (MSME) Carr-Purcell Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence. The medial and lateral condyle cartilage regions were further subdivided into three compartments - anterior, middle and posterior for identifying T2 values variation in between them. The T2 relaxation time mean and standard deviation in each region of interest (ROI) was calculated using the algebraic fitting algorithm and compared with conventional nonlinear algorithms. The results show that the algebraic fitting algorithm is feasible for T2 relaxation time calculation of knee tibiofemoral condyle cartilage. It is not only clear but also sensitive to T2 MR imaging of knee articular cartilage.