An Automatic Three-Dimensional Evaluation of Screw Placement After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction Using MDCT Images

Abstract

A metallic interference screw, which is a fixation device used in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, is important for fixing the grafts to the tibia. Loosening of fixation sometimes happens because the screw is displaced time passes, which results in instability of the knee. It is therefore important to analyze screw displacement highly accurately. The purpose of this study is to propose an evaluation of screw displacement in MDCT imaging of the knee after ACL reconstruction. Clinical experiments used 22 MDCT images that are not displaced in the clinical sense. Results of simulation experiments show that error was 0.14 mm, which was less thanMDCT image resolution. This study concluded that the proposed method useful in evaluating two MDCT images at different time points.