Radiation-free diagnosis of scoliosis. An overview of the surface and spine topography

Background. Scoliosis is a complex three-dimensional deformity of the spine, which usually occurs during childhood and adolescence. Up to now, whole spine X-rays have been the therapeutic gold standard in the diagnosis and follow-up of scoliosis. Aim. This review gives a brief overview of the history, technical background and possible fields of use for video-rasterstereography Methods. Alternative measurement systems have been developed over the past few years for the treatment of scoliosis, because of the risk of radiation exposure of X-rays. The rasterstereographic system Formetric (Diers International GmbH, Schlagenbad) allows a radiation-free, three-dimensional analysis of the back surface and the spine. Outlook. Even dynamic measurements can now be conducted with this rasterstereographic system, which will help to further understand and analyze the human spine.