Validation of Artificial Intelligence in the Classification of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and the Compairment to Clinical Manual Handling

Abstract

Objective: The accurate measurement of Cobb angles is crucial for the effective clinical management of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The Lenke classification system plays a pivotal role in determining the appropriate fusion levels for treatment planning. However, the presence of interobserver variability and time-intensive procedures presents challenges for clinicians. The purpose of this study is to compare the measurement accuracy of our developed artificial intelligence measurement system for Cobb angles and Lenke classification in AIS patients with manual measurements to validate its feasibility.

Methods: An artificial intelligence (AI) system measured the Cobb angle of AIS patients using convolutional neural networks, which identified the vertebral boundaries and sequences, recognized the upper and lower end vertebras, and estimated the Cobb angles of the proximal thoracic, main thoracic, and thoracolumbar/lumbar curves sequentially. Accordingly, the Lenke classifications of scoliosis were divided by oscillogram and defined by the AI system. Furthermore, a man–machine comparison (n = 300) was conducted for senior spine surgeons (n = 2), junior spine surgeons (n = 2), and the AI system for the image measurements of proximal thoracic (PT), main thoracic (MT), thoracolumbar/lumbar (TL/L), thoracic sagittal profile T5–T12, bending views PT, bending views MT, bending views TL/L, the Lenke classification system, the lumbar modifier, and sagittal thoracic alignment.

Results: In the AI system, the calculation time for each patient’s data was 0.2 s, while the measurement time for each surgeon was 23.6 min. The AI system showed high accuracy in the recognition of the Lenke classification and had high reliability compared to senior doctors (ICC 0.962).

Conclusion: The AI system has high reliability for the Lenke classification and is a potential auxiliary tool for spinal surgeons.

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence / Cobb Angle / Deep Learning / Lenke Classification / Scoliosis / Spine

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RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s). Orthopaedic Surgery published by Tianjin Hospital and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.